Compendium of Immunology. Second Edition

(gla). These residues in turn bind calcium ions. In view of the proliferation of roles attributed to calcium binding, vitamin K metabolism and vitamin K-dependent carboxylation should be of interest to almost everyone studying biological control mechanisms. Calcium binding serves in blood-clotting enzymes to enable interaction with phospholipids, activating prothrombin and other clotting proteins. A bone protein containing gla residues may control bone mineralization. Gla-containing proteins have been discovered in the kidney, lung, various pathological calcifications, and, intriguingly, in ribosomes. It should be no surprise then that the symposium brought together workers in many diverse, yet convergent, lines of research. The book covers crystallographic and structural studies on K-dependent plasma proteins and studies of calcium binding and the chemistry of and detection of minute amounts of gamma-carboxyglutamate. There are sections on the metabolism of the vitamin and its antagonists in microorganisms and in mammals. There are the latest, hotly debated results in enzymatic studies on the carboxylase. Included also are studies on non-plasma vitamin Kdependent proteins, and, of course, a major section on prothrombin, the place where it all started. The book's superficial quality of presenting a cross-section of all available typefaces is easily overlooked in favor of the speed with which the volume appeared. With the literature growing exponentially, this type of publication is sorely needed, and gladly welcomed.