Immunology and Cell Biology (2002) 80, 117–118

Book Reviews

METHODS IN MOLECULAR MEDICINE. HUMAN AIRWAY INFLAMMATION: SAMPLING TECHNIQUES AND ANALYTICAL PROTOCOLS

Edited by Duncan F Rogers, Louise E Donnelly. HumanaPress, Totowa, New Jersey, USA, 2001. 440 pages. Price:US$125.00.

This book is another excellent volume of Methods in Molec-ular Medicine and a very good extension of an earlier volumein this series, Asthma: Mechanisms and Protocols edited by KFan Chung and Ian Adcock. The editors have assembled animpressive list of clinical investigators and molecular andcellular biologists that have a fundamental interest in mecha-nisms of pulmonary inflammation in asthma and expertiseusing a selection of experimental protocols to study airwaysinflammation. The book has been elegantly compiled to be acomplete and detailed practical guide for clinical and experi-mental analysis of airways inflammation in asthma. The bookdescribes in detail important protocols and methodologiesinvolved in airways sampling and the assessment and charac-terization of inflammation in human airways. The editorshave segregated the book into several components: Samplecollection; cell isolation and culturing; gene expression andmediator expression and function, making this text a veryconvenient and accessible resource.

In the first chapter the editors introduce the current con-cepts that centre on pulmonary inflammation in asthma. Thechapter describes the important roles of the dendritic cells inantigen processing and presentation, of IgE in the early phaseasthmatic response and the role of other inflammatory cells,in particularly eosinophils, monocytes and macrophages, inthe asthmatic inflammatory reaction. In the proceeding chap-ters (Part I and II) the editors comprehensively describe avariety of invasive and non-invasive techniques for airwayssampling, including bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), nasalsecretions and exudations, induced sputum and assays tomeasure exhaled gases such as nitric oxide and carbonmonoxide. Included in these chapters are detailed descriptionsof various parameters measurable using these various sam-pling protocols, and the advantages and disadvantages of therespective techniques.

The following section of the book describes experimentaltechniques involved in inflammatory cell isolation fromhuman airways and in vitro culture of these cells. Thesechapters are a detailed description of the protocols involved inthe isolation of resident lung cells, including airway epithelialcells, alveolar Type II pneumocytes and airways smoothmuscle cells and purification of infiltrating inflammatory cellssuch as T lymphocytes and eosinophils. The individual chap-ters also include a description of a variety of experimentalassays used to measure various cell-specific parameters.These include endothelial cell permeability and hydraulicconductivity assays, intracellular calcium measurements inhuman smooth muscle cells and the determination and quan-tification of histamine, eicosanoid and cytokine by mast cells.

Section IV of the text describes various molecular biologystrategies (PCR, northern blot analysis and in situ hybridiza-tion) and provides examples on how these protocols can be

utilized in the characterization of inflammation in humanairways. These chapters provide a very comprehensivedescription of the theoretical basis behind these moleculartechniques and detailed experimental protocols for successfulusage of these methodologies. Further, they provide handynotes for technical support and optimization of these experi-mental systems. In the final chapters of this section, theeditors provide examples of how these assays can be utilizedin measuring gene expression from human airway biopsysamples.

The final section of the book primarily focuses on proto-cols characterizing inflammatory mediator expression inhuman airways in a similar style to that of Section IV. Theinitial chapters of this section describe an array of methodol-ogies that are used to study inflammatory mediators and cellscollected after airways sampling. These strategies includedetermination of mediators in spontaneously producedsputum, flow cytometry analysis of inflammatory cells, gran-ulocyte pharmacodynamics and in vitro leucocyte migrationassays. Similar to Section IV, the remaining chapters of thissection describe in detail examples of how the techniques canbe utilized to characterize inflammatory cell and mediatorfunction and activity.

In summary, this book is an excellent resource for clinicaland experimental research into human airways inflammation.The book provides a comprehensive description of state-of-the-art techniques that can be employed in airways samplingand characterization of human airways inflammation inasthma. This is a very well compiled text that is veryconvenient and accessible, making it a valuable resource forstudents and clinical and experimental researchers in the fieldof respiratory diseases.

SP HOGANAllergy and Inflammation Group

John Curtin School of Medical ResearchAustralian National University

Canberra, ACTAustralia

REVIEW OF RETROVIRAL IMMUNOLOGY

Edited by G Pantaleo and B Walker. Humana Press, Totowa,NJ, USA, 2001. 336 pages. Price: $135.

This book is a specialist text addressing the immunology ofretroviruses: virus specific immune responses, genetic andbiologic factors modulating such responses, and immunerestoration following the institution of highly active antiretro-viral therapy with its potential for immune restoration-medi-ated disease. The editors also point out in their preface thatthis is an important reference text for both basic scientists andclinicians in this area of research.

There are a number of ‘big names’ in the list of authors,Guido Poli, Mike McCune, Didier Trono, Giuseppe Pantaleo,Bruce Walker, Jaap Goudsmit, Pat Bucy and Cliff Lane, BettyKorber, David Montefiori and Paul Johnson being a few ofwhat could only be described as a stella cast. As Gus Nossalwould no doubt say ‘the glitterati of the experts in this field’.