Customer Reviews

Structure and Mechanism in Protein Science: A Guide to Enzyme Catalysis and Protein Folding

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This book belongs in every protein biochemists collection. It is a clear, up-to-date review of protein structure and function, with a concentration on enzymes. It covers a host of vital topics, including: the theories of chemical catalysis, enzyme kinetics (buy Segal for an in-depth study of this topic), the methods for determining rate constants, the stereochemistry of enzyme reactions, various regulation mechanisms, binding energies and the forces between molecules, and an overview of protein engineering techniques. If all this were not enough, Fersht concludes with a wonderful chapter covering case studies of enzyme structure and mechanism, and another couple on the kinetics and mechanisms of protein folding. Extensive references are given to the current literature for further study.

Putting all these topics into one book is an accomplishment that few authors could pull off - but Fersht does it extremely well!

Oh - the other nine ?

Cornish-Bowden, "Principles of Enzyme Kinetics"; Segal, "Enzyme Kinetics"; Voet & Voet, "Biochemistry"; Branden & Tooze, "Introduction to Protein Science"; Dixon & Web, "Enzymes"; Pauling, "The Nature of the Chemical Bond"; Scopes, "Protein Purification"; Freifelder, "Physical Biochemistry"; Walsh, "Enzymatic Reaction Mechanisms"

The book focuses on enzyme catalysis, stereochemistry of enzyme reactions, determination of rate constant, enzyme kinetics, and protein structure and folding. It would be an ideal reference for the study of protein chemistry. It can serve as the primary text for an advanced course in protein chemistry or a supplement for undergraduate biochemistry text.

Protein folding has remained one of the most intricate yet less understood process in modern biochemistry. Feersht's treatise of the subject in this book is splendid. The author overviews protein structure and diversity in the opening chapter. What I find really precious about this book is the discussion on protein engineering, forces on folding, and recombinant DNA technology in the context of protein folding.

Aside from protein chemistry, the chapter on chemical catalysis is excellent in learning more about transition state theory, general acid/base catalysis, covalent catalysis, structure-reactivity relationships, and kinetic isotope effects.

If you are studying protein structure, you probably should read this book for reference.

This is solely my opinion, but I have learned new things and reinforced some old knowledge, as well. The book is well-written, and understandable, without being simplistic.

Some texts are difficult to understand, or dry, or facile. This is not one of those texts.

Hands down the bible of enzyme kinetics!

Anyone looking to learn more about enzyme kinetics, thermodynamics, structure, and function will find this book clear, thoughtfully written, and at the forefront in the field.

With an undergrad degree in chemistry and a year of graduate school (granted, without a focus solely in biochemistry), this text was often difficult for me to follow and gain much from. Though the text contained an impressive breadth of topics, this breadth came at the cost of depth. In my opinion, a textbook should more-or-less stand on its own in providing a clear understanding of a topic. All too often I didn't find this to be the case with the Fersht book. Instead, I often had to consult many of the references listed in the text to obtain sufficient understanding of topics. (Fortunately, the book includes extensive reference lists.) If looking up endless references (many old and sometimes difficult to obtain) is something you enjoy, this book is for you.--If not, forget it!

This would be a fundamental book for all the researchers of protein. Especially, chapters about kinetic of enzyme reactions are essential. Many reseachers in the world frequently refer to this book.

Man, this book rocked! I took one look at the ribbon structure of ATPase on the cover and said to myself, "Whoa dude! This is, like, phat!" Then I turned the pages and BAM! I was knee deep in protein structure! Like, any first-year biochemist knows its all about the acids, as in amino, and Fersht, he knows his peptides! Oh man, I was on cloud nine! And I've been off my meds for two months now! But you wanna know the real dope? You can't say diddly about function unless you know structure, and that Alan, as in Fersht, dude! Like, he starts you off simple, like, you know, with the "building blocks," like we're a bunch of two-year-olds, and you string 'em together and get all that higher-order structure and stuff, and slowly, ever so slowly, like a mental itch that invades your consciousness and becomes screaming voices telling you to AHHHHHHHHH! So many domains! Too many functional units! No, no, nooooooo! Schiff base? Shift Bass! Ah HA HA HA HA! What do all those K's mean!?! Take me home! Please...