Biochemistry

Mitochondria are subcellular organelles that provide energy for a variety of basic cellular processes in eukaryotic cells. Mitochondria maintain their own genomes and many of their endosymbiont genes are encoded by nuclear genomes. The crosstalk between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes ensures mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamics and maintenance. Mitochondrial proteins are...

Several studies have been conducted to elucidate the role of free fatty acids (FFAs) in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, but the exact molecular mechanism by which FFAs alter glucose metabolism in the liver is still not completely understood.1-4 In a recent publication, Ragheb and co-workers have examined the...

Chelation therapy has been the major treatment for heavy metal poisoning. Various chelating agents have been developed and tested for treatment of heavy metal intoxications, including mercury poisoning. It has been clearly shown that chelating agents could rescue the toxicity caused by heavy metal intoxication, but the potential preventive role...

François Gagné1, M. Laura Martín-Díaz2,3 and Christian Blaise11Fluvial Ecosystem Research, Environment Canada, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. 2Cátedra UNESCO/UNITWIN/WiCop, Facultad de Ciencias del Mary Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Puerto Real, Spain. 3Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía, CSIC, Puerto Real (Cádiz), Spain. AbstractIn aquatic environments, genotoxicity results from the effects of pollution...

Shimoda and co-workers published a paper on the pharmacological properties of glycosides of the peppery compound capsaicin (1 ) and its derivative 8-nordihydrocapsaicin (2). In their paper they conclude that the β-glucoside and β-maltoside of 1 and the β-glucoside of 2 still have the same potent anti-obese activity but...

In the current study, we used immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting to examine the levels and phosphorylation status of the insulin receptor-beta subunit (IR-β), as well as the down stream target in PI3K pathway, total PKB/Akt as well as their phosphorylated forms. The assessment of FFAs treatment showed no direct and significant...

Introduction: In Dahl rats’ kidney cortex, the alternatively spliced form of the epithelial sodium channel α subunit (α ENaC-b) is the most abundant mRNA transcript (32+/-3 fold α ENaC-wt) as was investigated by quantitative RT-PCR analysis. α ENaC-b mRNA levels were significantly higher in Dahl R...

RNA northern blots provide robust measurements of gene expression. The simple northern blot technique described in this report has been optimised to provide rapid, reproducible detection and analysis of mature and precursor forms of microRNAs. This protocol economises on the use of commercially available components and secondly reduces the hybridisation...

Incubation of methyl 2-benzamidomethyl-3-oxobutanoate with cultured plant cells of Parthenocissus tricuspidata for 2 days afforded methyl (2R,3S)-2-benzamidomethyl-3-hydroxybutanoate with 100% de and 99% ee in 51% yield. The use of immobilized cells of P. tricuspidata in calcium alginate gel improved the yield of the product (95% yield) with 100%...

Erin Curry1, Scott L. Pratt1, Dale E. Kelley1, Daniel R. Lapin2 and John R. Gibbons1,2 1Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634. 2OvaMax, Inc. Watertown, WI 53094. Abstract A reliable and sensitive method of genetic analysis is necessary to detect multiple specific...

Leonardo Nimrichter1, Marcio L. Rodrigues1, Eliana Barreto-Bergter1 and Luiz R. Travassos2 1Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil. 2Unidade de Oncologia Experimental and Disciplina de Biologia Celular, Universidade Federal de São Paulo; São Paulo, SP 04023-062, Brazil. Abstract It...

F. Gagné, C. André and C. Blaise Environment Canada, Fluvial Ecosystem Research, 105 McGill, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 2E7. Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the function of metallothioneins (MT) in respect to the mobilization of heavy metals and superoxide anion (O2-) scavenging in...

Marcio L. Rodrigues1, Leonardo Nimrichter1, Debora L. Oliveira1, Joshua D. Nosanchuk2,3 and Arturo Casadevall2,3 1Laboratório de Estudos Integrados em Bioquímica Microbiana, Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941590, Brazil. 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the 3Division of Infectious Diseases of the...

A chemically synthesized peptide derived from platelet non-integrin collagen receptor has been shown to be an effective agent for inhibiting collagen-induced platelet aggregation and adhesion of washed radiolabeled platelets onto natural matrices and collagen coated microtiter plates. In order to be a therapeutic agent, we have used a cell culturing...

Weibo Cai1,2, Zachary J. Kerner1, Hao Hong1 and Jiangtao Sun1 1Departments of Radiology and Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. 2University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Abstract Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), a member...

Gabor Mocz Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822. Abstract This introductory editorial hopes to convey three points to its audience. First, it provides an overview of the new, peer-reviewed, open access journal Biochemistry Insights published by Libertas Academica. Second, it summarizes the benefits...