Handbook Of Neurochemistry Metabolic Reactions In The Nervous System

Volume V deals with the problems of turnover in the nervous system. "Turnover" is defined in different ways, and the term is used in different contexts. It is used rather broadly in the present volume, and intentionally so. The turnover of macromolecules is only one aspect; here "turnover" in dicates the simultaneous and coordinated formation and breakdown of macromolecular species. The complexities of cerebral protein turnover are shown in aseparate chapter dealing with the synthesis ofproteins, in another on breakdown, and in still another on the relationship ofthese two (showing how the two halves of turnover are controlled). The fact that most likely the two halves of protein turnover, synthesis and breakdown, are separated spatially and the mechanisms involved are different further emphasizes the complexity of macromolecular turnover. "Turnover" is used in a different context when the turnover of a cycle is discussed; but he re again a number of complex metabolic reactions have to be interrelated and controlled; some such cycles are discussed briefly in this volume, additional cycles have been discussed with metabolism, and some cycles still await elucidation or discovery.

When the projected volumes of the Handbook are completed, most of our current knowledge of the biochemistry of nervous systems will have been touched upon. A number of the chapters will have dealt with the correlations of the biochemical findings with morphological and physio logical parameters as well. Considering the abysmal lack of such attempts, even in the recent past, this is a sign of great progress. If the reader's eventual goal is to derive the "laws" that relate various aspects of animal and human behavior to underlying physiological and biochemical function, these admirable volumes will help him to establish a firm biochemical base from which to operate. It is certain that the future approaches to the various problems of the information-processing functions of the nervous system will require an integrated understanding of the essence of all of the scientific disciplines which are grouped under the general name of neuro biology. The rich feast of information offered up in this Handbook will enable those in the non-chemical disciplines to pick and choose those areas of chemical information pertinent to their immediate interests. Similar types of compendia by physiologists, anatomists, cyberneticists, and psychologists have been helpful to chemists and continue to be so.

"This volume deals with the role of amino acids and small peptides in the central nervous system. The various chapters describe individually the metabolism and functions of the different compounds."--Pref.

This volume is concerned with the enzymes of the nervous system. Cerebral enzymes form the basis of the functional brain. They are needed for the control of the energetics of the nervous system, whether it be their release or their direction; for the elaboration of transmitters and for their destruction; for the synthesis, transport, and breakdown of all metabolites of the nervous system. They are indispensable for the control of the multitude of factors that govern our thinking and our behavior. They make it possible for us to comprehend what is taking place around us and perhaps to understand what may be in store for us. Enzymes are the stuff of life, and no living cell can be without them. They are the results of many millions of years of evolution, from the time when biological membranes first came into being and were folded to produce the first cells within which the earliest enzymes were wrought. Countless changes have taken place within them, so that, now, only those enzymes exist that play specific roles in the functions of the living cells of today. Those in the nervous system possess a mUltiple role: in the creation, maintenance, and ultimate breakdown of the component cells and in enabling consciousness, perception, memory, and thought to become possible. But though life may go on forever, the enzymes that make life possible will undergo the many changes involved in the evolutionary process.