The Biochemistry of Cell Signalling.

E. J. M. Helmreich. Oxford University Press, New York. 2001. Pp. 328. £29.95, paperback. ISBN 0-19-850820-4

New text with Onion Tart (Neuer Text mit Zwiebelkuchen)

A German friend once remarked that the English admire foreign language quotations but habitually get them wrong. Ernst Helmreich has no problem with one of Goethe's maxims, with which he prefaces his new book, but his awkward translation (with misspelling) does glare rather ironically from the page.

This pocketbook text provides a compact overview of cell signalling, aiming to fill a niche between full-blown textbook and review monograph. It is a huge subject and this book is certainly packed with information, but given the space limitations, compromises have had to be made. The main text is subdivided somewhat arbitrarily into four sections. The first and longest, entitled the machinery of signal transduction, appears set to describe the various molecules involved in signal generation, reception and intracellular transduction. The opening comparison of receptor families is, however, bisected by a discussion of growth factor processing and membrane shedding, while resorting to forward references for cytokine and G protein-coupled receptors. The subsequent brief chapter on receptor oligomerisation again belies a lack of didactic structure. And so one is led from adaptors to small G proteins, cascading down MAP kinase pathways and gliding over lipid signals with just a sideways glance at cytoskeletal assembly in two short chapters. Only then does the frenetic style relax with more balanced chapters on heteromeric G proteins and pathways controlling morphogenesis and haematopoiesis. Overall, the section covers the basic material and includes some good illustrative detail, but in accessing it I found myself flicking back and forth with fingers between pages and distracted by the inconsistent style. However, omissions need to be remedied, including MAPKAP and ribosomal S6 kinases, the paracrine-mediated transactivation of receptor tyrosine kinases by G protein-coupled receptors and lipid-mediated cell survival signals.

The other three sections present case studies of signalling in action, looking at gene transcription, regulation of the cell cycle, cell death, the immune response and cancer. Here again, Helmreich courts the danger of being superficial, which is certainly true for the chapter on transcription, and repetitive, for example with STAT proteins and SMADs being discussed in chapters six and ten.

The text is supplemented in six ways. The list of contents and index are both succinct and would benefit from improvement. By way of amends, there is a long list of abbreviations and a glossary, both of which will prove useful. Curiously, the latter includes numerous word fusions, such as celldivision and expressionvector, at which even my word processor balks. Each chapter ends with a list of citations, some with more than a hundred entries, which strikes me as excessive, especially as some only acknowledge material sources. Perhaps a rating scheme could be adopted to single out recommended further reading. Finally, there is a section of glossy plates in the middle of the book showing protein structures, which add some colour and contrast to the grey scale structures and numerous diagrams included throughout. However, whereas the diagrams succeed in illustrating function, the structures are static and less effective.

The book is conceived as a supplementary text for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists, which is reflected in its format. The obvious difficulty has been condensing the subject accordingly. Helmreich has made a good effort in what is presumably his second language but more support from the publisher with language and structure should have been forthcoming. As this is a rapidly moving field, improvements could be wrought into an early second edition.

In autumn, people in Germany drink “new wine”, customarily accompanied with slices of onion tart. Nobody would contend that it can compete with vintage wines, but it has its merits, is widely appreciated and can be recommended nonetheless.