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BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS
former well, especially the increasing application of immunofluorescence localization
techniques. As expected, the spectrum of subject matter is wide, covering actin,
myosin and related regulatory proteins in cells (although regrettably only one paper
on plant cells), tubulin, cilia and flagella, platelets, cell motility and phago-, exo- and
endo-cytosis .
One of the major advances to be found in the work presented is a substantial increase
in our understanding of the roles of actin in the cell; as Professor Perry aptly said
in the closing remarks at the end of the Symposium ‘actin epitomizes the meeting to me’.
Evidence to date suggests that the actin monomer possesses as many as ten sites for
specific interactions with other proteins, and, with crystals of both muscle and cytoplasmic actins now in the hands of X-ray crystallographers, further evidence on this
should soon make actin less of a mystery. It is good to see this protein getting the
attention it deserves! Many of the papers on dynein-tubulin interactions drew
attention to possible similarities between this motile system and actin-myosin mediated
movement, a remarkable parallel if borne out by work currently in progress.
The Editors have, in the main, assembled a well-balanced spread of subject matter,
although it could have been presented in a better-indexed format. The shorter Free
Communications are indiscriminately lumped together at the back of the book, and
Professor Perry’s excellent account of regulation of contraction in muscle appears in
the section on platelets. In such an interdisciplinary meeting, the discussions are
conspicuous by their absence; no doubt for laudable reasons of brevity and economy,
but I would have liked to have seen them. This latter omission must also have speeded
up publication, as the photo-typesetting used undoubtedly has, with, fortunately, little
loss in legibility and faithful reproduction of the illustrations.
All in all, a very good addition to our knowledge of contractile proteins, with much
previously unpublished and significant information. It should be read with profit
by all workers in muscle research and cell movement, and indeed by any biochemist
seeking up-to-date findings in this fast-growing field of research.
K. F. HOWELLS
Haemoglobin:International Journal for Haemoglobin Research
T. H. J. HUISMAN (Editor)
Marcel Dekker, New York, 8 issueslvolume,
$65.00/volume + $10.00 outside U.S.A.
The first issue of Haemoglobin contains seven papers and two short communications.
The aim of the journal is to publish papers describing new haemoglobin variants,
analytical techniques, structure-function relationships and related aspects. Clinical
communications dealing with interactions and therapeutic approaches are also included.
The first issue contains contributions from eminent workers in the field of haemoglobin
research : Lehmann, Huisman and Carrell. Topics covered include reactivity of the
8-93 thiol groups in Hb Koln, separation of haemoglobins by DEAE-cellulose chromatography with glycine/KCN/NaCI developers and haemoglobin synthesis studies in 8+
thalassaemia trait. In addition, there are descriptions of three new haemoglobin
variants-Hb Willamette, Hb Riyadh and H b Baylor-and genetic studies of
homozygous Hb J Mexico. Finally, there is a very useful section on the International
Haemoglobin Information Centre established in 1975 as a means of facilitating
communication between investigators in the field of haemoglobin.
There is an undoubted place for a publication like this, which collates new
information on haemoglobin previously distributed in an irritatingly large number of
different journals. The journal is pocket-sized and the format attractive. The first issue
1977
BOOK REVIEWS
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certainly lives up to expectations. Huemoglobin should rapidly establish itselfas avaluable
addition to the book-shelves of biochemists and haematologists interested in the field.
Y. F. WILLIAMS
Ciba Foundation Symposium No. 48 (New Series): Purine and Pyrimidine
Metabolism
R. W. E. WATTS (Chairman)
Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1977, p p . 381, 830.95
Gout has been the butt of humour for many centuries. Perhaps for this reason the
study of purine metabolism is still not considered a serious or worthy occupation;
pyrimidine metabolism is even more obscure. This book represents the first recent
attempt to get these two subjects, so intimately interconnected, together. That it does not
succeed in this objective is due to the dirth of workers, and therefore progress, in the
pyrimidine field : any worker seriously contemplating studies in the pyrimidine field
will not find much enlightenment in this volume.
On the other hand, the latest developments in purine metabolism are well
reviewed. The molecular nature of enzyme regulation, the abnormalities associated
with purine synthesis, interconversions and degradations are discussed in detail; the
contribution of diet receives more emphasis and the renal effects are summarized. The
limitations of systems studied in vitro are also emphasized, and the purinergic nerve
hypothesis, an area of future potential, appears for the first time.
The recent surge in understanding of some of the causes of gout in terms of
enzyme defects has marked the entrance of the biochemist into this field. In less than
a decade several specific enzyme defects, two of which are associated with severe
immunological defects, have been identified. This has brought purine metabolism into
the more popular realm of immunology and has stimulated much work, which is
presented in some detail.
H. A. SIMMONDS
The Fate of Drugs in the Organism, Volume 4
J. HIRTZ (Editor)
Marcel Dekker, New York, 1977, p p . 640, Sw.Fr.240.00
This book is concerned with all aspects of the fate of drugs in the organism, and
brings together in a convenient form a wide range of pertinent data that might
otherwise be widely scattered throughout the scientific literature.
The book is divided into three sections: list of references and titles of abstracted
papers, alphabetically arranged entries for each drug and a Molecula Formula Table.
The individual entry for a drug in the drug list consists of a series of numbers referring
to the individual papers in the abstracted papers list. So that the relevance of each
abstracted paper may be judged, the content of each individual reference is marked
off against an index of 17 key words. The key words include coverage of the following
aspects: absorption, distribution, excretion, metabolism, administration to man
(animals), experiments in uitro, dosage form, pharmacology, assay, isolation etc.
The Molecular Formula Table gives the common names (WHO) and IUPAC names
for the indexed drugs, and is a useful safety net in cases where the name of the drug is
not that in current use in the U.K.
The compilers have listed 80 primary journals as the source of the information
Vol. 5