Protein Abnormalities, Volume 1. Physiology of Immunoglobulins: Diagnostic and Clinical Aspects

155 sive text that is technically and scientifically well prepared. It is easy to appreciate the careful attention to detail that went into the planning and execution of this work. The dedication of this first volume in the Protein Abnormalities series to the physiology of immunoglobulins should come as no surprise in the face of the continued surge of research in this area. These highly diverse plasma proteins, which have for many years occupied a special place in the pantheon of serologists and im-munologists, have in recent years generated a wave of enthusiasm which now carries on its crest large numbers of protein biochemists, molecular biologists, and geneticists. This volume deals with the study of immunoglobulin molecules primarily from the standpoint of the clinical laboratory, where they are used as serologic tools and also as indicators of specific disease states. In addition, two chapters are included which deal with the more basic biology of antibodies. Most of the techniques described in the chapters dealing with laboratory diagnostic practices have been in use for some time and will be familiar to many clinicians. In general, these methods are not limited to the study of im-munoglobulins alone, but are applicable to the investigation of other disease-related plasma protein alterations. For example, there is a chapter describing the familiar technique of cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis (CAM) written by J. Kohn, the originator of the technique, and P. Riches. CAM, which remains in wide use today because of its comparative simplicity and rapidity, provides a relatively crude means of separating the plasma proteins into seven familiar "zones," consisting of prealbumin, albumin, and the five globulin groups. A considerable refinement of the zone separation is achieved by agarose electrophoresis, described by T. Sun in a chapter which provides an excellent general overview of the application of zone elec-trophoresis to clinical diagnosis. Other authors describe the use of methods which identify particular protein components of plasma, such as two-dimensional im-munoelectrophoresis (IEP) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE). In a more experimental vein is a section on the analysis of body fluid proteins by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE). This technique has long since become a powerful tool in research laboratories, but it has yet to find its way into the modern clinical laboratory. By combining isoelectric focusing with sodium dodecyl sulfate PAGE, this procedure provides resolution of hundreds of distinct proteins in body fluids. The authors also describe …