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doi: 10.1242/10.1242/jcs.00143
Book Review |
by Bastien D. Gomperts, Ijsbrand M. Kramer and Peter E. R.
Tatham
Academic Press (2002) 424 pages. ISBN 0-12-289631-9
$79.95
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The field of signal transduction is moving at such a rapid pace that it has
become customary for journal reviews to contain updates added in proof. This,
coupled with the large number of pathways involved and their apparent
complexity, has ensured that this textbook does not enter a crowded
marketplace. To date we have The Biochemistry of Cell Signalling by
Ernst J. M. Helmreich (recently reviewed in J. Cell Sci.;
Helmreich, 2001
), which covers
similar ground, while multi-authored review compendiums constitute the bulk of
the available reference material in this research area. The challenge then is
to provide a textbook that is up to date, clearly written, well illustrated
and strikes an authoritative balance between the presentation of facts and an
overview of fundamental concepts and principles. Signal Transduction
contains 18 chapters in total, and the authors state that the book divides
conveniently into two parts. The first is dedicated to fundamental mechanisms,
concentrating on hormones, their receptors and the generation and function of
second messengers. This includes chapters covering GTP-binding proteins,
effector enzymes, calcium and signal transduction and protein kinases A and C.
A chapter on the regulation of visual transduction also falls within this
section. The second half of the book is dedicated to signalling processes
initiated by growth factors and adhesion molecules, and includes chapters on
growth factors, receptor and non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases, PI
3-kinases, signalling from adhesion molecules, receptor-bound protein
serine/threonine kinases, protein dephosphorylation and protein domains
involved in signalling.
First impressions of this book are overwhelmingly positive and this is largely due to the uniformly high quality of the illustrations. These really are superb and are firmly grounded in the revolution that PowerPoint has brought to scientific presentation in general. The diagrams are particularly useful where complex pathways and interactions need to be illustrated, and the authors have broken many such pathways down into digestible (and logical) portions, which are well described by the accompanying text. The subject matter covered here is wide ranging and by necessity this book packs in a huge number of facts. In some instances this onslaught is tempered by the inclusion of historical or experimental detail, but at times the sheer rate at which new players are introduced (or revisited) can be wearing. As for being up to date, the bibliographies at the end of each chapter contain references to work published as recently as 2000 and this is a considerable achievement given the time it must have taken to produce a book of this scope. Another positive feature is the high quality of the marginal notes. I noticed that where there were occasional weaknesses in the main text these notes became more frequent, almost as if they were added retrospectively to tidy things up a little.
This book is not without its share of mistakes and omissions. There are a
number of elementary errors, such as referring to budding yeast as
Saccharomyces pombe (p. 189) or the description of transferrin as a
growth factor (p. 22). More seriously, on p. 241 it is stated that
"p21CIP1/WAF1 also interacts with the transcriptional machinery through
binding to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a DNA polymerase".
This should be `replication' machinery and PCNA is not a DNA polymerase (PCNA
is an auxiliary protein for DNA polymerase-
). I was also struck by an
unfortunate bias in certain passages. For instance, the idea that p53 is an
exonuclease that participates directly in the repair of damaged DNA (p. 242)
is controversial to say the least, as is the assertion (p. 338) that Bcl2
interacts directly with Apaf (this should be Apaf-1). With respect to the
latter, it would be helpful to see important statements such as this backed up
with a primary literature reference. As for omissions, I was surprised to see
no direct reference to the emerging role of scaffold and anchoring proteins in
organising and regulating signalling through the MAP kinase and PKA pathways,
respectively. No mention is made of the impact that specific MAP kinase
inhibitors have made in defining physiological functions for the ERK and p38
pathways. Finally, coverage of the protein tyrosine phosphatase superfamily in
Chapter 17 omits any reference to the elegant structural studies of these
proteins and the dissection of their common catalytic mechanism. This work has
in fact made a major contribution to solving the difficult problem of
identifying physiological substrates for these enzymes by using
`substrate-trapping' mutants.
Despite these minor reservations this book represents a considerable achievement. Most importantly it conveys most of the key information and concepts and it does so in a stylish and well-presented volume. This book will take its place amongst the core reading and lecture materials for a number of undergraduate courses and will also find a place on the shelves of many laboratories, where it will be a valuable resource as an introductory text for PhD students or postdoctoral workers entering the field.
Cancer Research UK, Molecular Pharmacology Unit, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK
References
Helmreich, E. J. M. (2001). The Biochemistry of Cell Signalling. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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