Researchers have developed a range of synthetic biomimetic compounds to replace the relatively expensive natural NADH and NADPH coenzymes in enzymatic conversions of industrial relevance. They show that some of the compounds even outperform their natural counterparts.
The level of glucose in human blood depends on the continuous cooperation between two types of cells in the pancreas. Alpha cells secrete glucagon hormone that increases glucose in blood, while the beta cells secrete insulin, the hormone decreasing glucose concentration. Scientists have recently discovered that the alpha and beta cells communicate with each other, and the central role in this communication is played by cannabinoids – organic compounds that occur in nature also in inflorescences of cannabis. In recent studies it has also been shown that cannabinoids have an impact on the identity of the beta cells, and in human embryos they may lead to significant changes in the architecture of a forming pancreatic islets.
Damaged cells can commit suicide by a process of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. If this mechanism fails to work properly, the cell can become cancerous. Scientists are helping to explain important steps in the process of apoptosis. They know from previous studies that apoptosis begins with the activation of what are known as Bax proteins. If a cell is under stress, Bax proteins deposit on the surface of mitochondria in symmetrical pairs. The researchers then observed that the otherwise impermeable shell of the mitochondria becomes permeable – letting through cytochrome c. Once that happens, the process of cellular death cannot be reversed. But what happened in between was a mystery which for a long time puzzled apoptosis researchers. Now Ana García-Sáez and her team have been able to use a supermicroscope to watch how Bax proteins form pores in the mitochondrial shell, making it permeable.
Defining a patient’s symptoms using the historical diagnostic labels of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an outdated approach to understanding an individual’s condition, according to experts.
Black-box warnings about the dangers of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are confusing and could have serious consequences for the risk of youth suicide, according to researchers.
A professor uses exposure therapy to help patients with phobias that have begun to overtake their lives.
Why does a Great Dane have a shorter lifespan than a pug? The answer lies in a complex relationship between energy usage and lifespan. That relationship is quickly being unraveled through the use of numerical modeling.
