Category: Eggs
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Egg Case (mermaid’s Purse)
An egg case or egg capsule, often colloquially called a mermaid’s purse, is the casing that surrounds the eggs of oviparous chondrichthyans. Living chondricthyans that produce egg cases include some sharks, skates and chimaeras. Egg cases typically contain one embryo, except for big skate and mottled skate egg cases, which contain up to 7 embryos.[1] Oviparity is completely absent in the superorder Squalomorphii.[2][3] Egg cases are also thought to have been produced by some extinct…
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Magical Mantis Mojo
Hold onto your ootheca, folks, because we’re about to dive deep into the wild world of Sang Piao Xiao! đđ„đŹ Imagine you’re an ancient Chinese healer, strolling through a mulberry grove, when suddenly you spot a peculiar foam-like structure clinging to a branch. “Eureka!” you exclaim (in ancient Chinese, of course). “This mantis egg case…
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Ootheca
Buckle up, bug lovers, because we’re about to embark on a wild ride through the wacky world of oothecae! đđ„đą Picture this: You’re a lady mantis, feeling frisky after a hot date (and maybe a little post-coital cannibalism, because why not?). But instead of popping out eggs willy-nilly like some common housefly, you’ve got a…
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The molecular mayhem of immunogens, haptens, carriers and adjuvants
First up, the immunogen: the molecular maestro of the immune system, orchestrating a symphony of B-cells and T-cells like a conductor with a grudge. These substances donât just knock politely on the immune systemâs doorâthey kick it down with the force of a battering ram. Immunogens are a subset of antigens (because âantibody-generatingâ wasnât obvious enough)…
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Buggy Love Potion: The Science of Insect Sex Hormones
Listen up, you sexy six-legged sirens and alluring arthropods! đđ Get ready to have your mind blown and your exoskeleton rocked. Insect sex hormones: They’re real, they’re spectacular, and they’re changing the game of love in the miniature world! From ecdysone’s double life to gonadotropins’ matchmaking skills, these hormones are the unsung heroes of insect…
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Elevated alpha-fetoprotein
Elevated alpha-fetoprotein refers to a state where alpha-fetoprotein levels are outside of the reference range. There are two categories of AFP tests: tests performed on serum (blood plasma), and tests performed on amniotic fluid. Tests performed on serum are further categorized by the reason for performing the test: maternal serum, adult tumor marker, and pediatric tumor marker. Serum The standard…
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Ovotransferrin aka conalbumin
Ovotransferrin (conalbumin) is a glycoprotein of egg white albumen. Egg white albumen is composed of multiple proteins, of which ovotransferrin is the most heat reliable. It has a molecular weight of 76,000 daltons and contains about 700 amino acids. Ovotransferrin makes up approximately 13% of egg albumen (in contrast to ovalbumin, which comprises 54%). As a member of the transferrin and metalloproteinase family, ovotransferrin has been found to possess antibacterial…
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Flacherie (and a ridiculous history of Bt development…roundabout)
History of Bt Development as told in New Innovative Pesticides: An Evaluation of Incentives and Disincentives for Commercial Development by Industry, Stanford Research Institute (Final Report dated September 1977, Prepared for Economic Analysis Branch Criteria and Evaluation Division Office of Pesticide Programs US Environmental Protection Agency Washington DC) Punctuation if nothing else may be wonky…
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Ovalbumin
Ovalbumin (abbreviated OVA) is the main protein found in egg white, making up approximately 55% of the total protein. Ovalbumin displays sequence and three-dimensional homology to the serpin superfamily, but unlike most serpins it is not a serine protease inhibitor. The function of ovalbumin is unknown, although it is presumed to be a storage protein. Storage proteins Storage proteins serve as biological reserves of metal ions and amino acids, used by organisms. They…
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Tobacco-derived 4R-cembranoid confers neuroprotection against LPS-induced hippocampal inflammation in mice (decreases levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines; improves memory function; activates STAT3, Akt1, and CREB phosphorylation; and upregulates the mRNA levels of ORM2, GDNF, and C3) independent of the α7 nicotinic receptor
Rojas-ColĂłn, L.A., Dash, P.K., Morales-VĂas, F.A. et al. 4R-cembranoid confers neuroprotection against LPS-induced hippocampal inflammation in mice. J Neuroinflammation 18, 95 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-021-02136-9 LPS: Lipopolysaccharide “4R protects the hippocampus against inflammation and memory impairments triggered by LPS by lowering TNF-α and IL-1ÎČ levels and activation of the Akt1 and CREB signaling pathways. Astrocyte proteins involved in neuronal survival also…
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DREAM complex
The dimerization partner, RB-like, E2F and multi-vulval class B (DREAM) complex is a protein complex responsible for the regulation of cell cycle-dependent gene expression. The complex is evolutionarily conserved, although some of its components vary from species to species. In humans, the key proteins in the complex are RBL1 (p107) and RBL2 (p130), both of which are homologs of RB (p105) and bind repressive E2F…
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Testican
Testican is a type of proteoglycan. Testican-1 is a highly conserved, multidomain proteoglycan that is most prominently expressed in the thalamus, and is upregulated in activated astroglial cells of the cerebrum. Several functions of this gene product have now been demonstrated in vitro including membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase inhibition, cathepsin L inhibition, and low-affinity calcium binding. The purified gene product has been shown to inhibit cell attachment…
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Vitelline duct connects the yolk sac to the small intestine. This duct obliterates when the embryo is about 6 weeks old. Complete failure of the duct to obliterate results in a fistula from the ileum to the umbilicus (vitelline fistula).
In the human embryo, the vitelline duct, also known as the vitellointestinal duct, the yolk stalk, the omphaloenteric duct, or the omphalomesenteric duct, is a long narrow tube that joins the yolk sac to the midgut lumen of the developing fetus. It appears at the end of the fourth week, when the yolk sac (also known as the umbilical vesicle) presents the appearance of a small pear-shaped vesicle. Function Obliteration Generally, the duct…
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Peyer’s patches (aggregated lymphoid nodules)
Peyer’s patches (or aggregated lymphoid nodules) are organized lymphoid follicles, named after the 17th-century Swiss anatomist Johann Conrad Peyer. They are an important part of gut associated lymphoid tissue usually found in humans in the lowest portion of the small intestine, mainly in the distal jejunum and the ileum, but also could be detected in the duodenum. History Peyer’s patches had been observed and described by several anatomists…
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Perivitellin-2 (PV2) is a pore-forming toxin present in the egg perivitelline fluid of apple snails
Perivitellin-2 (PV2) is a pore-forming toxin present in the egg perivitelline fluid of the apple snails Pomacea maculata (PmPV2) and Pomacea canaliculata (PcPV2). This protein, called perivitellin, is massively accumulated in the eggs (~20 % total protein). As a toxin PV2 protects eggs from predators, but it also nourishes the developing snail embryos. Structure and stability These ~172-kDa proteins are dimers of AB toxins, each composed of a carbohydrate-binding…
