Introduction to Protein Structure

Rating:
Summary: Best intro/review text on the market
Review: If you are looking for a basic introduction to proteins and their form and function--or if you are looking for a good text to review protein chemistry--there is none better than Branden and Tooze. I have a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and routinely reccommend this book to everyone from undergraduate students taking biochemistry to graduate students and professors looking to review knowledge they've forgotten. This book has the perfect combination of clear explanations in ordinary english (rather than in complicated jargon) and full-color, easy to interpret diagrams. I fully intend to buy a second copy, since my current copy is perpetually on loan to friends/students. Buy two for yourself!

Rating:
Summary: Best intro/review text on the market
Review: If you are looking for a basic introduction to proteins and their form and function--or if you are looking for a good text to review protein chemistry--there is none better than Branden and Tooze. I have a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and routinely reccommend this book to everyone from undergraduate students taking biochemistry to graduate students and professors looking to review knowledge they've forgotten. This book has the perfect combination of clear explanations in ordinary english (rather than in complicated jargon) and full-color, easy to interpret diagrams. I fully intend to buy a second copy, since my current copy is perpetually on loan to friends/students. Buy two for yourself!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best science books ever
Review: This book was a pleasant surprise in almost every respect. I found it a gentle, clear exposition of material that can be hugely complicated. The text works upwards from amino acids, the building blocks, through the interactions of shape and chemical affinity, to views of proteins in action. By the time they appear, muscle fibers and virus capsules follow naturally from the discussion. This gives simple, concise descriptions of how proteins' shape emerge from its sequence. It goes on to describe protein control of DNA, to explain virus and muscle structure, and to hint at modern drug design.

'Protein Structure' requires some background in organic chemistry and in the ideas of molecular genetics. For example, you should already be familiar with steric hindrance and with the idea of regulatory regions in DNA. Branden and Tooze reward the prepared reader with a well-considered series of discussions. These include enzyme action, photosynthesis, virus self-assembly, muscle fibers, DNA binding, and more. I had never seen an actual chain of chemical events that turn light into usable chemical energy. This book stepped through it (for a bacterium, at least) in just few paragraphs and drawings. But the whole book is like that - it sustains a remarkable density of information, always in a very readable style.

The text is laid out in a simple and appealing way, and is profusely illustrated. The illustration is one of this book's wonderful strengths. Almost all of the discussion is carried in diagrams as well as in words, and the authors freely use as many different diagrams as needed to make each idea understandable. The illustration style is simple and consistent; most drawings use one of three or four conventions for describing proteins. Almost all of the illustrations seem to be hand-drawn with colored pencil. Still, the corpus of illsutrations is among the most communicative I have seen in any book. Artists aspiring to illustrate science (or to communicate any idea) should read Tufte, then treat this book as a uniquely successful case study.

My only complaint about this book had to do with the quality of its printing. A few pages in my copy have bad register, colors are not consistent from page to page, and the one major photograph is weirdly over-sharpened. I must also admit that I do not need a deep knowledge of protein structure and function - I scanned the book quickly, and read only parts with care. The book repaid that effort richly, and I expect that it will reward more careful readers even more. I'm not a biochemist, but I strongly recommend 'Protein Structure' to anyone at all interested in the topic.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Introduction to Protein Structure
Review: This is a good protein structure book with a lot of intuitive cartoons on that. The major deficiency of the book is that it is slightly outdated because structural biology continuous making progress in recent years. There are very little in depth analysis based on the physical chemistry of protein, so it doesn't provide more insight into how protein functions. I give it 4 star because the pictures are really gorgerous.

Rating:
Summary: An easy introduction to protein structure
Review: This review refers to the second edition of this book, issued in 1999. The book, written by a noted crystallographer (Branden) and a molecular biologist (Tooze) noted for science education. Following up on an earlier edition, the present volume takes advantage of the enormous increase in solved protein structures that has occurred in the intervening years. The book is well written, clear, and makes excellent use of contrasting pastel colors to represent three-dimensional objects (proteins) on a two-dimensional page. One rather surprising omission is the lack of stereo views of proteins in a book about structure. These have become quite common in the structural biology literature, and I feel the book would have been strengthened by judicious inclusion of some examples.

The book, which would be suitable for an advanced undergraduate, graduate course or for biologist wishing to delve more into structure, begins with basic amino acid properties. The secondary structure elements of alpha helix and beta sheet are next introduced, along with some of the conventions used to illustrate structure in publications. How these structural elements are formed to build motifs, and motifs in turn are built into complex structures is discussed. Protein folding and flexibility are discussed, and proteins that assist in the process (e.g., chaperones, GroEL-GroES, disulfide isomerases) are highlighted.

The next several chapters deal with DNA structure, DNA recognition by helix-turn-helix motifs, and eukaryotic transcription factors. The various transcription factor families are outlined, with emphasis on their interactions with DNA. Next, the subject of enzyme catalysis is covered, using serine proteases as exemplars. Membrane proteins, signal transduction proteins, fibrous proteins and immune system components all have individual chapters that emphasize structural features in the service of function. There is a chapter on spherical virus assembly and structure. Two general chapters close the book: one on structure prediction and protein engineering and design, and a final chapter on protein structure determination, which deals with X-ray crystallography and NMR methods and studies.

Rating:
Summary: An easy introduction to protein structure
Review: This review refers to the second edition of this book, issued in 1999. The book, written by a noted crystallographer (Branden) and a molecular biologist (Tooze) noted for science education. Following up on an earlier edition, the present volume takes advantage of the enormous increase in solved protein structures that has occurred in the intervening years. The book is well written, clear, and makes excellent use of contrasting pastel colors to represent three-dimensional objects (proteins) on a two-dimensional page. One rather surprising omission is the lack of stereo views of proteins in a book about structure. These have become quite common in the structural biology literature, and I feel the book would have been strengthened by judicious inclusion of some examples.

The book, which would be suitable for an advanced undergraduate, graduate course or for biologist wishing to delve more into structure, begins with basic amino acid properties. The secondary structure elements of alpha helix and beta sheet are next introduced, along with some of the conventions used to illustrate structure in publications. How these structural elements are formed to build motifs, and motifs in turn are built into complex structures is discussed. Protein folding and flexibility are discussed, and proteins that assist in the process (e.g., chaperones, GroEL-GroES, disulfide isomerases) are highlighted.

The next several chapters deal with DNA structure, DNA recognition by helix-turn-helix motifs, and eukaryotic transcription factors. The various transcription factor families are outlined, with emphasis on their interactions with DNA. Next, the subject of enzyme catalysis is covered, using serine proteases as exemplars. Membrane proteins, signal transduction proteins, fibrous proteins and immune system components all have individual chapters that emphasize structural features in the service of function. There is a chapter on spherical virus assembly and structure. Two general chapters close the book: one on structure prediction and protein engineering and design, and a final chapter on protein structure determination, which deals with X-ray crystallography and NMR methods and studies.