Category: Aminosaurs
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𧏠What Is Beta-Glucuronidase?
Beta-glucuronidase (ÎČG) is a lysosomal enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucuronidesâmeaning it breaks apart compounds that have been conjugated with glucuronic acid during Phase II liver detoxification. It is the undoer of the covenantâthe enzyme that breaks the seal. Sources of Beta-Glucuronidase Source Type Examples Notes Human cells Colonocytes, liver cells Endogenous production for…
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Chalone Rangers: The Tissue-Specific Mitotic Inhibitors You Never Knew You Needed
Chalones are the unsung heroes of cellular crowd control. These tissue-specific, water-soluble substances are like the bouncers of your body, standing at the gates of mitosis with their arms crossed, saying, âNot tonight, buddy.â Theyâre the biochemical equivalent of that one friend who knows when to call it a night before things get out of…
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Autacoids Unleashed: The Self-Made, Self-Destructive Hormones You Didnât Know You Needed
What Are Autacoids? Autacoids (or autocoids) are the bodyâs DIY hormonesâlocally produced, short-lived biochemical messengers that scream, âI got this!â before promptly fading into oblivion. The term comes from the Greek autos (self) and acos (relief or drug), which is ironic because theyâre basically the overachieving interns of the body: they do all the work locally, get no credit,…
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Snake Venom: The Hormone Hijacker đ
Imagine a villainous mastermind that can infiltrate your body’s hormonal headquarters, manipulating the delicate balance of estrogen and other hormones. Welcome to the world of snake venom, where the stakes are high and the effects are unpredictable. Estrogen’s Uninvited Guest: When Snake Venom Crashes the Hormone Hoedown Prepare for the most bizarre gatecrasher at the…
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Relaxin
We’re about to dive into the wild world of Relaxin, the protein hormone that’s been turning heads since 1926 when Frederick Hisaw first stumbled upon it. This isn’t your average hormone – it’s a multitasking marvel that’s about to blow your mind! Researchers say this tiny protein, barely 6000 Da in size, is strutting around…
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Thermolysin – The Tiny Terminator of Plasma Proteins!
Both thermolysin and snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) share a similar mechanism of action, utilizing zinc ions to hydrolyze peptide bonds in proteins
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The term “hormesis” derives from Greek hĂłrmÄsis for “rapid motion, eagerness”, itself from ancient Greek hormĂĄein to excite. The same Greek root provides the word hormone.
Hormesis is a two-phased dose-response relationship to an environmental agent whereby low-dose amounts have a beneficial effect and high-dose amounts are either inhibitory to function or toxic. Within the hormetic zone, the biological response to low-dose amounts of some stressors is generally favorable. An example is the breathing of oxygen, which is required in low amounts (in air) via respiration in living animals, but can…
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Daniel Carleton Gajdusek (1923 â 2008) was an American physician and medical researcher who was the co-recipient (with Baruch S. Blumberg) of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for work on the transmissibility of kuru, implying the existence of an infectious agent, which he named an ‘unconventional virus’.
His papers are held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland and at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Early life and education Gajdusek’s father, Karol Gajdusek, was a Slovak butcher from SmrdĂĄky, Kingdom of Hungary, now Slovakia. His mother Ottilia DobrĂłczki, and maternal grandparents, ethnic Hungarians of the Calvinist faith, emigrated from Debrecen, Hungary. Gajdusek was born in Yonkers, New York, and graduated…
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Marx SO, Reiken S, Hisamatsu Y, Gaburjakova M, Gaburjakova J, Yang YM, Rosemblit N, Marks AR. Phosphorylation-dependent regulation of ryanodine receptors: a novel role for leucine/isoleucine zippers. J Cell Biol. 2001 May 14;153(4):699-708. doi: 10.1083/jcb.153.4.699. PMID: 11352932; PMCID: PMC2192391.
Abstract Ryanodine receptors (RyRs), intracellular calcium release channels required for cardiac and skeletal muscle contraction, are macromolecular complexes that include kinases and phosphatases. Phosphorylation/dephosphorylation plays a key role in regulating the function of many ion channels, including RyRs. However, the mechanism by which kinases and phosphatases are targeted to ion channels is not well understood.…
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Oxytocin: The Molecular Maestro of Love and Labor
Buckle up, hormone enthusiasts! We’re about to take a wild ride into the world of oxytocin, the “love hormone” that’s been playing Cupid in our bodies since the dawn of mammalian evolution. This tiny peptide packs a punch that would make even Hercules jealous! Picture this: a molecule barely 1007 Da in size, strutting around…
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Valine
Valine (symbol Val or V) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated âNH3+ form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated âCOOâ form under biological conditions), and a side chain isopropyl group, making it a non-polar aliphatic amino acid. Valine is essential in humans, meaning the body cannot synthesize it; it…
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Eraso Y. Biotypology, endocrinology, and sterilization: the practice of eugenics in the treatment of Argentinian women during the 1930s. Bull Hist Med. 2007 Winter;81(4):793-822. doi: 10.1353/bhm.2007.0130. PMID: 18084107; PMCID: PMC2629848.
SUMMARYThis article looks at medical approaches to womenâs fertility in Argentina in the 1930s and explores the ways in which eugenics encouraged the reproduction of the fit and attempted to avoid the reproduction of the unfit. The analysis concentrates on three main aspects: biotypology (the scientific classification of bodies), endocrine therapy, and sterilization. The article…
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the hormone hustle
We’re about to embark on a time-traveling, mind-bending journey through the evolution of normalization, biopolitics, and the wild world of hormones. From Foucault’s philosophical bombshells to Nicola Pende’s hormone-fueled science experiments, this is a story that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about “normal.” Act I: The Birth of Biopower (18th Century) Picture…
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Beccalossi C. Sexology, sexual development, and hormone treatments in Southern Europe and Latin America, c.1920-40. Hist Human Sci. 2023 Dec;36(5):94-121. doi: 10.1177/09526951231213028. Epub 2023 Dec 6. PMID: 38077463; PMCID: PMC10700059.
AbstractDisplacing the physiological model that had held sway in 19th-century medical thinking, early 20th-century medical scientists working on hormones promoted a new understanding of the body, psychological reactions, and the sexual instinct, arguing that each were fundamentally malleable. Hormones came to be understood as the chemical messengers that regulated an individual’s growth and sexual development,…
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Beccalossi C. Italian sexology, Nicola Pende’s biotypology and hormone treatments in the 1920s. Hist Med Sante. 2017 Winter;12:73-97. doi: 10.4000/hms.1173. Epub 2018 May 28. PMID: 31501760; PMCID: PMC6733708.
AbstractThis article analyses a selection of Nicola Pendeâs studies from the 1920s on âendocrinological abnormalitiesâ associated with impotence, a lack of virility in men, a lack of femininity in women, and homosexuality. By analysing endocrinological sexual theories and treatments, it aims to illustrate the ways in which hormone research pioneered an innovative approach to the…
