Subunits in Biological Systems. Volume 7. Part C

This volume is the seventh in a series entitled "Biological Macromolecules" and the third of a subseries on subunits in biological systems. There are four articles in this volume: one by Nemethy on protein folding and allostery, a lengthy review of antibody structure and function by Cathou and Dorrington, a chapter by Sund, Markam, and Koberstein on glutamate dehydrogenase and a concluding article on polyribosome structure by Malkin. The volume is a potpourri. Were not one reminded by the book title that all the systems discussed are constructed of subunits, one might suppose that the most important factor holding the chapters together is the glue in the binding. To put it another way, the chapters are independent. This reviewer is conversant with only one of the topics covered, that of the last chapter. This article reviews a very restricted portion of the ribosome literature. It deals not with the structure of the polyribosomes as its title suggests, but with studies on enzymatic digestion of mRNA and nascent polypeptides bound to ribosomes. The primary problem of the chapter is its datedness. There is only one reference in the bibliography from 1973 and nothing later. I suspect that experts in the other areas covered in the book would make similar comments. The chapter by Cathou and Dorrington, for example, refers to the recent x-ray data on antibodies, but doesn't give it the emphasis one would expect were it rewritten today. The point is that the value of a volume such as this to the scientific public is very time dependent. It would appear that a substantial period elapsed between the date the manuscripts were submitted and the date the volume appeared, which is a disservice to everyone, readers and authors. I found I benefited much more from the chapters dealing with topics outside my own field (the amount of benefit seems inversely proportional to the degree of prior acquaintance). The article on antibodies appeared particularly thorough and illuminating. The review by Nemethy is somewhat schizoid. It starts with a general discussion of the forces which stabilize protein structure and then reviews the kinetic and thermodynamic theories of allosteric enzymes, an area which has seen some lively controversies in its day. The two areas are connected, of course, but no one knows quite how (even in the case of hemoglobin). Nemethy is unable to connect them either. The chapter on glutamate dehydrogenase appears to be complete. This enzyme is of special interest because it spontaneously polymerizes into linear arrays under some conditions. For the most part, the articles in this volume are well done, scholarly reviews. I suspect that most readers approaching this book will do so because of their need for a review of only one of the four areas covered, a fact which may prove unfortunate from the publisher's standpoint. The other problem the publisher will probably have to face is that several of the reviews are already out of date only one year after the book's publication for reasons already described.