Topic Review
Mir-137
In molecular biology, miR-137 (or microRNA-137) is a short non-coding RNA molecule that functions to regulate the expression levels of other genes by various mechanisms. miR-137 is located on human chromosome 1p22 and has been implicated to act as a tumor suppressor in several cancer types including colorectal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma via cell cycle control. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided evidence to suggest that single nucleotide polymorphisms in the vicinity of the MIR137 gene are statistically associated with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. miR-137 is shown to regulate neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells, and neuronal maturation, including regulation of dendrite length, branch points, end points, and spine density in mouse adult hippocampal neuroprogenitor-derived and mouse fetal hippocampus neurons. Decreased spine density has also been observed in the dorsolateral cortex of patients with schizophrenia. miR-137 belongs to the miR-137 clan (a clan is group of two or more RNA families that have arisen from a single evolutionary origin, as derived from their related structure and function). The miR-137 clan contains two members: miR-137 and miR-234; the total number of RNA domains in the clan is 112.
  • 267
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
IIIG9 in Cancer and Other Pathologies
The identification of new proteins that regulate the function of one of the main cellular phosphatases, protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), is essential to find possible pharmacological targets to alter phosphatase function in various cellular processes, including the initiation and development of multiple diseases. IIIG9 is a regulatory subunit of PP1 initially identified in highly polarized ciliated cells. In addition to its ciliary location in ependymal cells, researchers showed that IIIG9 has extraciliary functions that regulate the integrity of adherens junctions.
  • 452
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Tumor Necrosis Factor -Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand Signaling Pathways
The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a type II transmembrane protein that undergoes proteolytic cleavage to produce an extracellular ligand. TRAIL can bind to decoy receptor 1 (DcR1) which lacks a death domain (DD) altogether, and DcR2 which has a truncated DD. These decoy receptors are unable to induce DISC (death-inducing signaling complex) formation and act as negative regulators of the apoptotic signaling by competitively binding TRAIL. The canonical TRAIL-induced apoptotic signaling pathway is an example of apoptosis mediated through the extrinsic death pathway, which entails activation of cell-surface receptors by a ligand to induce activation of downstream caspases.
  • 921
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Potential Role of Methylglyoxal in Ageing
Advances in molecular biology technology have piqued tremendous interest in glycometabolism and bioenergetics in homeostasis and neural development linked to ageing and age-related diseases. Methylglyoxal (MGO) is a by-product of glycolysis, and it can covalently modify proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, leading to cell growth inhibition and, eventually, cell death. MGO can alter intracellular calcium homeostasis, which is a major cell-permeant precursor to advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). As side-products or signalling molecules, MGO is involved in several pathologies, including ageing.
  • 532
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Non-Catalytic Tyrosine-Phosphorylated Receptors
Non-catalytic tyrosine-phosphorylated receptors (NTRs), also called immunoreceptors or Src-family kinase-dependent receptors, are a group of cell surface receptors expressed by leukocytes that are important for cell migration and the recognition of abnormal cells or structures and the initiation of an immune response. These transmembrane receptors are not grouped into the NTR family based on sequence homology, but because they share a conserved signalling pathway utilizing the same signalling motifs. A signaling cascade is initiated when the receptors bind their respective ligand resulting in cell activation. For that tyrosine residues in the cytoplasmic tail of the receptors have to be phosphorylated, hence the receptors are referred to as tyrosine-phosphorylated receptors. They are called non-catalytic receptors, as the receptors have no intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and cannot phosphorylate their own tyrosine residues. Phosphorylation is mediated by additionally recruited kinases. A prominent member of this receptor family is the T-cell receptor.
  • 421
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Circular Bacterial Chromosome
A circular bacterial chromosome is a bacterial chromosome in the form of a molecule of circular DNA. Unlike the linear DNA of most eukaryotes, typical bacterial chromosomes are circular. Most bacterial chromosomes contain a circular DNA molecule – there are no free ends to the DNA. Free ends would otherwise create significant challenges to cells with respect to DNA replication and stability. Cells that do contain chromosomes with DNA ends, or telomeres (most eukaryotes), have acquired elaborate mechanisms to overcome these challenges. However, a circular chromosome can provide other challenges for cells. After replication, the two progeny circular chromosomes can sometimes remain interlinked or tangled, and they must be resolved so that each cell inherits one complete copy of the chromosome during cell division.
  • 1.0K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Wall-Associated Kinase
Wall-Associated Kinase (WAKs) are one of many classes of plant proteins known to serve as a medium between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cytoplasm of cell walls. They are serine-threonine kinases that contain epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeats, a cytoplasmic kinase and are located in the cell walls. They provide a linkage between the inner and outer surroundings of cell walls. WAKs are under a group of receptor-like kinases (RLK) that are actively involved in sensory and signal transduction pathways especially in response to foreign attacks by pathogens and in cell development. On the other hand, pectins are an abundant group of complex carbohydrates present in the primary cell wall that play roles in cell growth and development, protection, plant structure and water holding capacity. Pectins are rich in galacturonic acids (OGs) and present in the middle lamellae in plant tissues where they provide strength, flexibility and adhesion between plant cells. Commercially and within the food industry, they are used as gels and stabilizers for desserts and juices. The role of WAKs in cell walls as pectin receptors is vital to a variety of functions involved with cell differentiation, form and host-pathogen relations.
  • 468
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Amyloid Precursor Protein
Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is an integral membrane protein expressed in many tissues and concentrated in the synapses of neurons. Its primary function is not known, though it has been implicated as a regulator of synapse formation, neural plasticity, antimicrobial activity , and iron export. APP is best known as the precursor molecule whose proteolysis generates amyloid beta (Aβ), a polypeptide containing 37 to 49 amino acid residues, whose amyloid fibrillar form is the primary component of amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.
  • 639
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Non-Random Segregation Errors in Mitosis and Meiosis
Aneuploidy is a hallmark of cancer and a major cause of miscarriages in humans. It is caused by chromosome segregation errors during cell divisions. Evidence is mounting that the probability of specific chromosomes undergoing a segregation error is non-random. In other words, some chromosomes have a higher chance of contributing to aneuploid karyotypes than others. This could have important implications for the origins of recurrent aneuploidy patterns in cancer and developing embryos.
  • 509
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Read
In DNA sequencing, a read is an inferred sequence of base pairs (or base pair probabilities) corresponding to all or part of a single DNA fragment. A typical sequencing experiment involves fragmentation of the genome into millions of molecules, which are size-selected and ligated to adapters. The set of fragments is referred to as a sequencing library, which is sequenced to produce a set of reads.
  • 569
  • 24 Nov 2022
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