โ Scribed by D.A. Brown
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
As with many multi-author works, the title of this book is a bit misleading, in that it is not a fully systematic or comprehensive account of neural molecular biology. Instead, as the editors state in their preface, it is ''a set of reviews [which] provide the reader with an overview of neuron molecular biology from genes and gene expression through the molecular systems that determine the excitability of neurons and how this is controlled and transmitted, to the molecules which known to play special roles in the development of the nervous system, the survival of neurons, and disease.'' As such, it is quite well-planned and contains much of interest. My main problem is that there is very little on how the various molecules actually do ''determine the excitability of neurons'' but perhaps this is unfair in a book of this type.
The book starts from the ''bases and genes'' end of molecular biology. Stewart and Davies set the tone in the first chapter on Neuronal Genes. This is pretty hard-core DNA/RNA stuff, concentrating on practical matters such GenBank searches and transcript sizes and (for a non-molecular biologist) requires frequent reference to the useful list of abbreviations prefacing the preface. There follow two excellent review chapters by Jockusch et al. on ''Molecular genetics of nervous and neuromuscular systems'' and by Grant and Wisden on ''Neuron-specific gene expression''. The former is a really extensive and informative account of neural molecular genetics, covering genes for neural development, axon guidance, cell migration, neurotrophic factors, cell death, hereditary neurodegenerative diseases, myelin genetics and ion channel genetics. Inevitably in a fast-moving field, it is already slightly out of date but not impossibly so (mid-'96 reference list). Grant and Wisden's chapter addresses the issue of transcriptional regulation and includes a practical appendix on methods for studying promoters and enhancers. I thought both of these chapters scholarly and helpful.
At this point we leave genes (for a while) and go on to proteins, with chapters on the cytoskeleton (Diaz-Nido and Avila), molecular biology of transmitter release (Staple and Catsias), G protein-coupled receptors (Koenig) and neurotransmitter-gated ion channel receptors (Glencourse and Davies). The cytoskeleton chapter is long and comprehensive. The others rather follow the authors' own slants. The chapter on neurotransmitter release presents the biochemist's view, with snare complexes and membrane cycling, but hardly a passing reference to the biophysics or the amazing speed and efficiency of the release process itself. The ion channels chapter presents structures and families and then
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