CELLULAR DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY (incl. cell culture, cytochemistry) (see also 



8,28,29,32,38) 



Monographs 



34. 



K.N.PRASAD. 1980. REGULATION OF DIFFERENTIATION IN MAMMALIAN NERVE CELLS 

 Plenum, New York, etc. XIV, 245 pp., 34 figs., 28 tabs., subject index. 

 $ 24.50; countries outside USA ca. $ 29.50 



Contents: 1. Definition and methodologies (28 pp.), 2. Neural induction 

 (20), 3. Role of cyclic nucleotides in regulation of differentiation of 

 nerve cells (104), 4. Role of agents other than cAMP in the regulation of 

 differentiation of nerve cells (34), 5. Parent and hybrid neuroblastoma 

 cells in culture as a model system for neuronal function (18), 5. Some as- 

 pects of development of nervous tissue (34) 



This monograph is a useful summary of an important field. However, the 

 fact that the chapter bibliographies very rarely go beyond 1976 means that 

 several recent advances are missed out. A case in point is the recent work 

 on the neuroblastoma plasma membrane and cell cycle. 



Chapter 1 contains a useful description of the amphibian neural induction 

 system and of the six major in vitro techniques in use for nerve cells. Ch.4 

 discusses, among other things. Nerve Growth Factor, serum requirement and 

 various hormones. Some of the aspects dealt with in ch.6 are morphogenesis, 

 cell recognition and adhesion, neuronal death, locus specificity (for some 

 reason discussed under the previous heading!), and neuronal plasticity. 



The book is illustrated almost exclusively with graphs and diagrams. 



Symposium reports 



35. 



A. S.G.CURTIS and J.D.PITTS, eds . 1980, CELL ADHESION AND MOTILITY 

 Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, etc. 3rd Symp. Brit. Soc. for Cell Biol. 

 XII, 500 pp., 105 figs., 36 tabs., combined subject and taxonomic index. 

 E 40.00 



Contributors: Barondes, Curtis, Doiowy, Doroszewski, Dunn, Edebo, Gerisch, 

 Gingell, Gordon, Hughes, Koch, Lackie, Olden, Rajaraman, Rees, Rutter, 

 Skerrow, Watt 



Although this report of a symposium held in England (at an unspecified 

 date) contains little that is directly relevant to developmental biology, 

 the subject is obviously of eminent importance for this field of enquiry. 

 Of the 18 papers 11 are by authors or groups from the U.K., three from 

 North America, and four from Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. Most of them 

 are longish reviews while a few are more restricted in scope. They deal with 

 physico-chemical principles of cell adhesion and with adhesion and motility 

 in a variety of cell types. 



The two papers of most direct interest to our readers are that by Gerisch 

 et al. on cell adhesion in slime moulds and that by Barondes on developmen- 

 tally regulated lectins in slime moulds and chick embryos. Other papers 

 deal with histocompatibility systems, cell surface glycoproteins such as 

 fibronectin, and cytoskeleton-raembrane interactions. 



The book is very well produced and illustrated and has a very detailed 

 index. 



180 



