Category: Neuroscience
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ADAM23: The Neural Navigator
ADAM23 is the protein that’s making waves in the world of neuroscience. ADAM23 is like that friend who’s always helping you find your way around a new city. This protein is highly expressed in the central nervous system and plays a crucial role in brain development1. Picture ADAM23 as the traffic controller of the neural…
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Insall R. Dispatch. Dictyostelium chemotaxis: fascism through the back door? Curr Biol. 2003 Apr 29;13(9):R353-4. doi: 10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00274-4. PMID: 12725750.
Abstract Aggregating Dictyostelium cells secrete cyclic AMP to attract their neighbours by chemotaxis. It has now been shown that adenylyl cyclase is enriched in the rear of cells, and this localisation is required for normal aggregation. Dictyostelium discoideum cells undergo a major lifestyle change when they get hungry. They grow as unicellular amoebas, but when food starts to…
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Sex-determining region Y protein (SRY), or testis-determining factor (TDF)
Sex-determining region Y protein (SRY), or testis-determining factor (TDF), is a DNA-binding protein (also known as gene-regulatory protein/transcription factor) encoded by the SRY gene that is responsible for the initiation of male sex determination in therian mammals (placental mammals and marsupials). SRY is an intronless sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome. Mutations in this gene lead to a range of disorders of sex development with varying effects on an individual’s phenotype and genotype. SRY is a member of the SOX (SRY-like box)…
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Staphylokinase (SAK) aka staphylococcal fibrinolysin or Müller’s factor
Staphylokinase (SAK; also known as staphylococcal fibrinolysin or Müller’s factor) is a protein produced by Staphylococcus aureus. It contains 136 amino acid residues and has a molecular mass of 15kDa. Synthesis of staphylokinase occurs in late exponential phase. It is similar to streptokinase. Fibrinolysin is an enzyme derived from plasma of bovine origin (plasmin) or extracted from cultures of certain bacteria. (more below) Staphylokinase is positively…
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Paracetamol (acetaminophen) use in infants and children was never shown to be safe for neurodevelopment: a systematic review with citation tracking
Although widely believed by pediatricians and parents to be safe for use in infants and children when used as directed, increasing evidence indicates that early life exposure to paracetamol (acetaminophen) may cause long-term neurodevelopmental problems. Furthermore, recent studies in animal models demonstrate that cognitive development is exquisitely sensitive to paracetamol exposure during early development. In…
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Prenatal exposure to paracetamol/acetaminophen and precursor aniline impairs masculinisation of male brain and behaviour
Paracetamol/acetaminophen (N-Acetyl-p-Aminophenol; APAP) is the preferred analgesic for pain relief and fever during pregnancy. It has therefore caused concern that several studies have reported that prenatal exposure to APAP results in developmental alterations in both the reproductive tract and the brain. Genitals and nervous system of male mammals are actively masculinised during foetal development and…
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Agrin is a large chimeric proteoglycan, a heparan sulfate and chondroitin proteoglycan, whose best-characterised role is in the development of the neuromuscular junction during embryogenesis
Agrin was originally found in the electric organ of Tarpedo california and in the basal lamina at the neuromuscular junction as a protein that directs the aggregation of acetylcholine receptors (AChR) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) at synaptic sites. Tetronarce californica also known as the Pacific electric ray is a species of electric ray in the family Torpedinidae, endemic to the coastal waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean from Baja California to British Columbia. It generally inhabits sandy flats, rocky reefs, and kelp forests from the surface…
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Adenosine
Adenosine (symbol A) is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature in the form of diverse derivatives. The molecule consists of an adenine attached to a ribose via a β-N9–glycosidic bond. Adenosine is one of the four nucleoside building blocks of RNA (and its derivative deoxyadenosine is a building block of DNA), which are essential for all life. Its derivatives include the energy carriers adenosine mono-, di-, and triphosphate, also…
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Proline and a few other notes
Proline (symbol Pro or P) is an organic acid classed as a proteinogenic amino acid (used in the biosynthesis of proteins), although it does not contain the amino group -NH2 but is rather a secondary amine. The secondary amine nitrogen is in the protonated form (NH2+) under biological conditions, while the carboxyl group is in the deprotonated −COO− form. The “side chain” from the α carbon connects to the nitrogen forming a pyrrolidine loop, classifying it…
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Serine
Serine (symbol Ser or S) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH+3 form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated −COO− form under biological conditions), and a side chain consisting of a hydroxymethyl group, classifying it as a polar amino acid. It can be synthesized in the human body under normal physiological circumstances, making…
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Leu-enkephalin and Met-enkephalin
Leu-enkephalin is an endogenous opioid peptide neurotransmitter with the amino acid sequence Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu that is found naturally in the brains of many animals, including humans. It is one of the two forms of enkephalin; the other is met-enkephalin. The tyrosine residue at position 1 is thought to be analogous to the 3-hydroxyl group on morphine. Leu-enkephalin has agonistic actions at both the μ- and δ-opioid receptors, with significantly greater preference for the…
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Enkephalins
An enkephalin is a pentapeptide involved in regulating nociception (pain sensation) in the body. The enkephalins are termed endogenous ligands, as they are internally derived and bind to the body’s opioid receptors. Discovered in 1975, two forms of enkephalin have been found, one containing leucine (“leu”), and the other containing methionine (“met”). Both are products of the proenkephalin gene. Endogenous opioid peptides There are three well-characterized families of opioid…
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Olfactory tubercle (OT) aka tuberculum olfactorium
The olfactory tubercle (OT), also known as the tuberculum olfactorium, is a multi-sensory processing center that is contained within the olfactory cortex and ventral striatum and plays a role in reward cognition. The OT has also been shown to play a role in locomotor and attentional behaviors, particularly in relation to social and sensory responsiveness, and it may be necessary for behavioral flexibility. The OT is interconnected with numerous brain regions,…
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Nucleus accumbens aka accumbens nucleus
The nucleus accumbens (NAc or NAcc; also known as the accumbens nucleus, or formerly as the nucleus accumbens septi, Latin for “nucleus adjacent to the septum“) is a region in the basal forebrain rostral to the preoptic area of the hypothalamus. The nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle collectively form the ventral striatum. The ventral striatum and dorsal striatum collectively form the striatum, which is the main component of the basal ganglia. The dopaminergic neurons of the mesolimbic pathway project onto the GABAergic medium…
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The pineal gland as an APUD organ
It is only in recent years that the pineal gland has emerged from being thought of as non-functional and unimportant. The rise from obscurity has been the result of the interest of investigators of multidisciplinary origins; such approaches, whilst clearly advancing understanding, also tend to leave knowledge fragmentary. In the last decade, a new neuroendocrine…