Book review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A. Burleigh and Dominique Soldati-Favr

Tyler, KM

English

PubMed

Kevin M Tyler

Springer - Publisher Connector

Review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A. Burleigh and Dominique Soldati-Favre

University of East Anglia digital repository

BioMed CentralParasites & VectorsssOpen AcceBook reviewReview of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A. Burleigh and Dominique Soldati-FavreKevin M TylerAddress: BioMedical Research Centre, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UKEmail: Kevin M Tyler - k.tyler@uea.ac.ukAbstractBook review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A. Burleigh and DominiqueSoldati-FavreBook detailsBurleigh BA, Soldati-Favre D: Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion.  In Subcellular Biochemistry Volume 47. 7th edition. Landes Bioscience and Springer Science + Business Media; 2008:232.  ISBN 978-0-387-78266-9ReviewMedical microbiologists inhabit a post-genomic environ-ment of platform technologies engendering large datasetsof host and pathogen components. An environment inwhich there is extensive knowledge of the DNA, RNA andprotein of key parasites and of human cells. This offers theopportunity for functional studies with unprecedenteddefinition and has led to the blossoming of cellular stud-ies investigating how pathogens interact with host cellsand in particular how relatively large and complex proto-zoa can actually enter, survive and proliferate within thecells of human hosts.Several lineages of parasite have adopted intracellularstrategies for survival, presumably driven by similar selec-tive pressures for immune evasion and sustenance. Toadopt an intracellular life-style, parasites must find waysto enter host cells, overcome their innate cellular defencesand divert their nutritional resources. Readers of this bookwill discover that while many of the exact mechanisms bywhich this is achieved vary from parasite to parasite andfrom parasitized cell to parasitized cell; there are instancesof mechanistic convergence and common threads to themechanisms adopted by different parasites.As someone working in this field I found this book enor-mously interesting and useful, drawing together as it doesa number of different systems to facilitate comparisons bythe reader. Active researchers and PhD students in this andaffiliated fields will no doubt find this an essentialresource for several years to come. Essentially, the book isan edited compilation of highly technical reviews frommany of those who founded this area of research. In termsof readability, the book is light-weight and portable, butthis reflects the fact that the text is extremely dense and thefont size small, making reading a little difficult. It isthough well illustrated and incorporates appropriate col-our and black and white images which improves the over-all readability and facilitates understanding of the quitecomplex subjects covered.The book is broken down by sections and chapters; withsections on experimental approaches, receptor interac-tions, signalling pathways, cytoskeletal dynamics, pro-teases, parasitophorous vacuole and penetratingbiological barriers. It kicks off with a chapter devoted tocontemporary methods for looking at apicomplexan cellinvasion which is generally useful. Subsequent sectionscontain multiple chapters, each organism-specific, facili-Published: 5 May 2009Parasites & Vectors 2009, 2:24 doi:10.1186/1756-3305-2-24Received: 2 May 2009Accepted: 5 May 2009This article is available from: http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/2/1/24© 2009 Tyler; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Page 1 of 2(page number not for citation purposes)Parasites & Vectors 2009, 2:24 http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/2/1/24Publish with BioMed Central   and  every scientist can read your work free of charge"BioMed Central will be the most significant development for disseminating the results of biomedical research in our lifetime."Sir Paul Nurse, Cancer Research UKYour research papers will be:available free of charge to the entire biomedical communitypeer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptancecited in PubMed and archived on PubMed Central yours — you keep the copyrightSubmit your manuscript here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/publishing_adv.aspBioMedcentraltating comparisons. This structure enables the reader todo the hard work of finding common themes between sys-tems rather than being spoon-fed them; presumablybecause for the diligent and interested reader the bestunderstanding is earned rather than given.Competing interestsThe author declares that they have no competing interests.Page 2 of 2(page number not for citation purposes)

Book Review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A.Burleigh and Dominique Soldati-Favre

BioMed CentralParasites & Vectors
ssOpen AcceBook review
Review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A. 
Burleigh and Dominique Soldati-Favre
Kevin M Tyler
Address: BioMedical Research Centre, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
Email: Kevin M Tyler - k.tyler@uea.ac.uk
Abstract
Book review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A. Burleigh and Dominique
Soldati-Favre
Book details
Burleigh BA, Soldati-Favre D: 
Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion.
  In Subcellular Biochemistry Volume 47. 7th edition. Landes 
Bioscience and Springer Science + Business Media; 2008:232.  
ISBN 978-0-387-78266-9
Review
Medical microbiologists inhabit a post-genomic environ-
ment of platform technologies engendering large datasets
of host and pathogen components. An environment in
which there is extensive knowledge of the DNA, RNA and
protein of key parasites and of human cells. This offers the
opportunity for functional studies with unprecedented
definition and has led to the blossoming of cellular stud-
ies investigating how pathogens interact with host cells
and in particular how relatively large and complex proto-
zoa can actually enter, survive and proliferate within the
cells of human hosts.
Several lineages of parasite have adopted intracellular
strategies for survival, presumably driven by similar selec-
tive pressures for immune evasion and sustenance. To
adopt an intracellular life-style, parasites must find ways
to enter host cells, overcome their innate cellular defences
and divert their nutritional resources. Readers of this book
will discover that while many of the exact mechanisms by
which this is achieved vary from parasite to parasite and
from parasitized cell to parasitized cell; there are instances
of mechanistic convergence and common threads to the
mechanisms adopted by different parasites.
As someone working in this field I found this book enor-
mously interesting and useful, drawing together as it does
a number of different systems to facilitate comparisons by
the reader. Active researchers and PhD students in this and
affiliated fields will no doubt find this an essential
resource for several years to come. Essentially, the book is
an edited compilation of highly technical reviews from
many of those who founded this area of research. In terms
of readability, the book is light-weight and portable, but
this reflects the fact that the text is extremely dense and the
font size small, making reading a little difficult. It is
though well illustrated and incorporates appropriate col-
our and black and white images which improves the over-
all readability and facilitates understanding of the quite
complex subjects covered.
The book is broken down by sections and chapters; with
sections on experimental approaches, receptor interac-
tions, signalling pathways, cytoskeletal dynamics, pro-
teases, parasitophorous vacuole and penetrating
biological barriers. It kicks off with a chapter devoted to
contemporary methods for looking at apicomplexan cell
invasion which is generally useful. Subsequent sections
contain multiple chapters, each organism-specific, facili-
Published: 5 May 2009
Parasites & Vectors 2009, 2:24 doi:10.1186/1756-3305-2-24
Received: 2 May 2009
Accepted: 5 May 2009
This article is available from: http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/2/1/24
© 2009 Tyler; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), 
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Page 1 of 2
(page number not for citation purposes)
Parasites & Vectors 2009, 2:24 http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/2/1/24Publish with BioMed Central   and  every 
scientist can read your work free of charge
"BioMed Central will be the most significant development for 
disseminating the results of biomedical research in our lifetime."
Sir Paul Nurse, Cancer Research UK
Your research papers will be:
available free of charge to the entire biomedical community
peer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptance
cited in PubMed and archived on PubMed Central 
yours — you keep the copyright
Submit your manuscript here:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/publishing_adv.asp
BioMedcentral
tating comparisons. This structure enables the reader to
do the hard work of finding common themes between sys-
tems rather than being spoon-fed them; presumably
because for the diligent and interested reader the best
understanding is earned rather than given.
Competing interests
The author declares that they have no competing interests.Page 2 of 2
(page number not for citation purposes)


Burleigh BA, Soldati-Favre D: Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion. In Subcellular Biochemistry Volume 47

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Book Review of "Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion" by Barbara A.Burleigh and Dominique Soldati-Favre

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