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Receptors and Ligands in Intercellular Communication, Vol. 2: Structure and Function of Fc Receptors

edited by Arnold Froese and Frixos Paraskevas, Marcel Dekker, 1983. SFr. 120.00 (xv + 294 pages) I S B N 0 824 71814 3

Collectively, the cells of the immune system express a vast array of receptors for immunoglobulins, and these receptors display an equally wide range of biological functions which are invidually determined by the cell type on which the receptor is expressed and by the isotypic specificity of the receptor involved. Any attempt to draw together all current knowledge of the stucture and

function of Fc receptors is welcome, particularly if it succeeds in providing a coherent view of such a complex and diverse subject. Unfortunately, this book does not really succeed in doing so. The flaw lies in the book's origins. As the editors somewhat coyly remark, '(its) r oo t s . . . c an be found in an international symposium on the same subject', which was held in Canada in 1981. It is, in effect, yet another monograph compiled from symposium presentations and suffers from all the weaknesses inherent in such an exercise. The major drawback is that in these circumstances the authors, understandably, tend to concentrate on their own work rather than provide a comprehensive review of their field, with the inevitable result that the book becomes a series of disjointed and sometimes conflicting accounts instead of the balanced synthesis of available information we might expect.

There are, of course, exceptions to this pattern: the chapters by Froese and Sinclair are admirable in their efforts to provide a broader perspective. But I feel it is unfortunate, for example, that conflicting views on the structures of Fcy receptors are presented by different authors without comment, or that no attempt is made to relate the observations of Suzuki and Ishizaka concerning the early biochemical events associated with cell triggering. From a less exacting viewpoint, the book is a mine of information which, though two years old, is by no means outdated. It should therefore prove valuable reading to anyone wishing to explore the field.

R.G.Q. LESLIE

R. G . Q. Leslie is in the Department of Immunology, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.

Biochemical Research Techniques - A Practical Introduction

edited by John M. Wrigglesworth; John Wihy and Sons, 1983. £15, 75 (vii + 239 page. 0 I S B N 0 471 10323 3

This book is very much a Chelsea College effort and was apparently con- ceived, as the editor puts it, 'mainly to help research students expand their competence in techniques they have not applied to their research'. It is a rather small volume (only 239 pages) and covers seven topics, each written by a dif- ferent author. The seven chapters are on absorbance spectroscopy, fluorescence, spin labelling (electron spin resonance), high-performance liquid chromato- graphy, electron microscopy, mono- clonal antibodies, and tissue culture. This book is very well presented: it is clearly printed with good photographs and diagrams; and the index is useful and comprehensive.

The variety of topics included make this book a reviewer's nightmare. There can be few experts on such a diverse group of topics. I have tried to review this book in two ways: first, for the qualified

immunologist; and second, for the research student in immunology.

The arbitrary selection of topics is probably the book's main flaw. Ideally, similar techniques should be treated together and I would prefer nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron spin resonance (ESR), and high-performance liquid chromato- graphy (HPLC) and gas-liquid chroma- tography (GLC) to be discussed together with their limitations and possibilities presented comparatively. The ad- vantages of one technique over another cannot be seen if only one technique is described. Moreover, the restrictions imposed by the compactness of the volume placed the authors.in an impos- sible dilemma; that is how to be practical and general at the same time. In my opinion, neither has been achieved. For example, we are told about a lamp manufacturer who changed the position of the filament in a lamp without telling anyone, whereas, vast theoretical and practical areas of spectrophotometry and fluorescence have been omitted. Im- munofluorescence is hardly mentioned. The same situation occurs elsewhere in the book on several occasions. The section on HPLC of carbohydrates, for instance, is poor and one reads that

uncharged monosaccharides can be fractionated in a cation-exchange column (contrary to usual methods, with the theory explained in the same chapter) eluting with 0.05 M electrolyte (sic), with- out mentioning either the source of the information or the electrolyte.

The chapters on non-analytical tech- niques (monoclonal antibodies and cell culture) are better, the authors having dealt with their subjects in a more syste- matic way. Non-immunologists will probably find this section difficult but a glossary of terms has been included at the end of each chapter. This is hardly of concern to immunologists, but I found the definitions to my liking with only one exception, oligoclonality. These two chapters just cover the very basic aspects ofmonoclonal antibodies and cell culture and add very little to the reviews already available.

In summary, although this is not abad book, its usefulness to immunologists and research students in immunology will be limited.

CARLOS MORENO

Carlos Moreno is in the Department of Experimental Immunobiology, The Wellcome Research Labora- tories, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3BS, UK.