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Book Reviews
crystallography is still the only technique that can indeed a lot of useful information here covering all the
routinely provide atomic resolution structures for major aspects of the subject. I felt, however, that the
large molecules of over 30 000 Dalton (250 amino book would have benefited considerably from some
acids) and the prerequisite for such an analysis is to serious editing. Reading the book from cover to cover
obtain a stable, single, well formed protein crystal in a few sessions induced a vague sensation of deT jaZ u ;
with ideal dimensions of 0n2i0n2i0n2 mm. For some topics are discussed or described in rather
smaller proteins, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance is still similar ways in two or three of the chapters. In one
an option with the advantage that only soluble protein case, an identical figure (the phase diagram for
(and no crystals) is required, though both NMR and lysozyme) is presented in chapter 4 and 6 and discussed
X-ray methods require milligram quantities of ma- in similar ways. Similarly, a bit of work on editing the
terial. figures would have helped readability. Some of the
The book on ‘ Crystallisation of Biological Macro- copious illustrations could have been helped by more
molecules ’ is therefore very timely as the importance complete legends, or discussed more thoroughly in the
of the protein crystallization step is taking on a more text.
critical role as more and more proteins are being The thermodynamics and kinetics of protein crystal
studied. There is also a healthy trend of molecular growth are complex and rely on a host of parameters
biologists picking up X-ray crystallography as an including protein concentration, precipitant concen-
additional skill. Or, put another way, the route to tration, pH and temperature. So it is perhaps
obtaining suitable crystals for X-ray analysis study is reasonable to take a more qualitative and pictorial
often achieved through molecular biology techniques. approach used in this book to describe this process.
Crystallography and molecular biology overlap at the Current theory suggests that the first step in crystal
protein production and crystallisation stage and with growth is the formation of nuclei of a critical size in a
this in mind, McPherson has attempted to cover most supersaturated solution. The critical nuclei consist of
topics in a way that is accessible to those without a few hundred molecules for large proteins and a few
expert knowledge in either area. thousand molecules for smaller proteins. The use of
This lavishly produced book with lots of colour Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) provides a clear
pictures has an almost coffee-table feel to it. It picture of the subsequent development of crystal faces
contains a host of interesting snippets of information during crystal growth. A number of beautifully
and is well referenced. One of the most readable illustrated examples of crystal stacking and screw
chapters for me was the ‘ History and Character of dislocation faults are provided in chapters 8 and 9. It
Macromolecular Crystals ’ chronicling the first pub- is an interesting observation that in contrast to small
lished protein crystallization papers on haemoglobin molecule crystals, protein crystals grow more slowly
(Hu$ nfeld 1840) and the landmark studies by Sumner and only reach a limited size. Most protein crystals
on concanavalin in 1919. The intriguing work of O. have between 10% and 10' defects\cm# compared to a
Fu$ ke (1850) involved crystallization of haemoglobin value of about 100\cm# for small molecule crystals
from man, horse, bullock, dog, cat, fish, pig and and AFM evidence suggests that there may be a
pigeon. This was followed by an amazing 500 page correlation between the size of the crystal, how well it
book published in 1909 which apparently described diffracts X-rays and the defect density.
an attempt to use the crystal forms of haemoglobin There is also a useful set of appendices at the end of
from a variety of organisms to provide an alternative the book which provides a compendium of screening
biological classification. This historical introductory conditions and some useful recipes for buffer prep-
chapter is followed by two chapters on ‘ Principles of aration and other standard laboratory procedures. It
Macromolecular Structure ’ and ‘ Purification and is ironic that the new wave of ‘ structural proteomics ’
Characterisation of Biological Macromolecules ’ that projects have a major bottleneck in the empirical and
make a brave attempt to cover these broad topics. capricious science of crystal growth. This makes the
They are informative, however, they probably require compilation of approaches in this particularly timely
too much background information for the newcomer providing a good and detailed coverage of the area.
to the field and are not detailed enough for the experts Despite my feeling that a leaner and more focused
looking for tricks, tips and new insights. book could have been produced, I can strongly
The real meat of the book is in the central six recommend it to novices and experts alike.
chapters discussing Principles, Procedures, Consider-
ations, Strategies, Special Approaches and Mechan- Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology,
isms of Macromolecular Crystallisation. There is Uniersity of Edinburgh