Periodic Tables Unifying Living Organisms at the Molecular Level

10.1142/10625 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lima-de-Faria
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Level ◽  
Living Organisms

What’s Wrong with Their Mice?

Neuro ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas Rose ◽  
Joelle M. Abi-Rached
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Psychiatric Research ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Laboratory Situation

This chapter discusses the use of animals to explore issues relating to human cognition, emotion, volition, and their pathologies. Researchers who use animal models in their work point to similarities in the genomes of the two species, in the structure of mouse and human brain, in patterns of brain activation, in neural mechanisms at the cellular and molecular level, in responses to drugs and so forth, perhaps with reference to evolution and the principle of conservation across species when it comes to the most basic aspects of living organisms, including their brains. The chapter then examines four interconnected themes: the question of the artificiality of the laboratory situation within which animal experiments are conducted; the idea of a model in behavioral and psychiatric research; the specificity of the human and the elision of history and human sociality; and the problem of translation.

scholarly journals Perspectives on Complexity, Chaos and Thermodynamics in Environmental Pathology

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 5766
Author(s):  
Maurizio Manera
Keyword(s):  
Chaos Theory ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Complexity Science ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Intrinsic Complexity ◽  
Biological Interfaces ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Molecule Interactions ◽  
Medical Disciplines

Though complexity science and chaos theory have become a common scientific divulgation theme, medical disciplines, and pathology in particular, still rely on a deterministic, reductionistic approach and still hesitate to fully appreciate the intrinsic complexity of living beings. Herein, complexity, chaos and thermodynamics are introduced with specific regard to biomedical sciences, then their interconnections and implications in environmental pathology are discussed, with particular regard to a morphopathological, image analysis-based approach to biological interfaces. Biomedical disciplines traditionally approach living organisms by dissecting them ideally down to the molecular level in order to gain information about possible molecule to molecule interactions, to derive their macroscopic behaviour. Given the complex and chaotic behaviour of living systems, this approach is extremely limited in terms of obtainable information and may lead to misinterpretation. Environmental pathology, as a multidisciplinary discipline, should grant privilege to an integrated, possibly systemic approach, prone to manage the complex and chaotic aspects characterizing living organisms. Ultimately, environmental pathology should be interested in improving the well-being of individuals and the population, and ideally the health of the entire ecosystem/biosphere and should not focus merely on single diseases, diseased organs/tissues, cells and/or molecules.

scholarly journals Current status and future challenges for molecular imaging

2017 ◽  
Vol 375 (2107) ◽  
pp. 20170023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn J. Anderson ◽  
Jason S. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Imaging ◽  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
Society Meeting ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Living Organisms

Molecular imaging (MI), used in its wider sense of biology at the molecular level, is a field that lies at the intersection of molecular biology and traditional medical imaging. As advances in medicine have exponentially expanded over the last few decades, so has our need to better understand the fundamental behaviour of living organisms in a non-invasive and timely manner. This commentary draws from topics the authors addressed in their presentations at the 2017 Royal Society Meeting ‘Challenges for chemistry in molecular imaging’, as well as a discussion of where MI is today and where it is heading in the future. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Challenges for chemistry in molecular imaging’.

scholarly journals Computational and experimental insights into the circadian effects of SIRT1

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (45) ◽  
pp. 11643-11648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiota T. Foteinou ◽  
Anand Venkataraman ◽  
Lauren J. Francey ◽  
Ron C. Anafi ◽  
John B. Hogenesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Experimental Validation ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Primary Target ◽  
Acetylation Status ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Enzymatic Model ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Transcriptional Feedback

The circadian clock orchestrates 24-h rhythms in physiology in most living organisms. At the molecular level, the dogma is that circadian oscillations are based on a negative transcriptional feedback loop. Recent studies found the NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase, SIRT1, directly regulates acetylation status of clock components and influences circadian amplitude in cells. While Nakahata et al. [Nakahata Y, Kaluzova M (2008)Cell134:329–340] reported that loss ofSIRT1increases amplitude through BMAL1 acetylation, Asher et al. [Asher G, Gatfield D (2008)Cell134:317–328] reported that loss ofSIRT1decreases amplitude through an increase in acetylated PER2. To address this SIRT1 paradox, we developed a circadian enzymatic model. Predictions from this model and experimental validation strongly align with the findings of Asher et al., with PER2 as the primary target of SIRT1. Further, the model suggested SIRT1 influencesBMAL1expression through actions on PGC1α. We validated this finding experimentally. Thus, our computational and experimental approaches suggest SIRT1 positively regulates clock function through actions on PER2 and PGC1α.

scholarly journals Twisted and frustrated states of matter

2012 ◽  
Vol 468 (2142) ◽  
pp. 1521-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Goodby
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Level ◽  
Partial Ordering ◽  
Space Groups ◽  
Broken Symmetries ◽  
Nonlinear Properties ◽  
Information Displays ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Dynamical Fluctuations ◽  
Living Organisms

The World, and much of Nature that we see within it, experiences an environment of reduced symmetries. For example, living organisms are dependent on asymmetric or dissymmetric structures for their life processes. In the solid state, a large number of space groups are chiral. Conversely, in liquids, the effects of reduced symmetries are smeared out owing to the dynamical fluctuations of the constituent molecules, atoms or ions. Thus, on progressing from the strongly ordered solid to the amorphous liquid state, the effects of reduced symmetries weaken as the molecular or atomic correlations and penetration lengths fall. Between these two states of matter, the fourth state of organized fluids can be markedly affected by chirality, and over substantial length scales, owing to both the fluidity and partial ordering of the molecules. In effect, complex fluids can amplify the effects of chirality at the molecular level. Broken symmetries in self-organizing systems can lead to the formation of novel phases of matter and to the creation of structured liquids, and to the generation of nonlinear properties such as heli-, ferro-, ferri- and antiferro-electricity, and electroclinism, which can be harnessed in a wide range of applications including thermal sensors, imaging devices and information displays, to name but a few.

scholarly journals Crystallographic Studies of Enzymes

Crystals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
T. Doohun Kim ◽  
Kyeong Kyu Kim
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Reactions ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
And Function ◽  
Structural Aspects

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which work to accelerate chemical reactions at the molecular level in living organisms. They are major players in the control of biological processes such as replication, transcription, protein synthesis, metabolism, and signaling. Like inorganic catalysts, enzymes function by decreasing the activation energy of chemical reactions, thereby enhancing the rate of the reactions. Enzymes are widely used for chemical, food, pharmaceutical, medicinal, analytical, clinical, forensic, and environmental applications. Therefore, studies on their structure, mechanism, and function, using a wide range of experimental and computational methods, are necessary to understand better enzymes in biological processes. For this special issue, “Crystallographic Studies of Enzymes", we have collected research papers on enzymes with structural aspects and functional aspects; here we briefly discuss the contents of such research papers as follows, with the aim of suggesting new directions of investigation in the fields of enzyme research, protein engineering, and drug development.

scholarly journals Nanotoxicity: Dimensional and Morphological Concerns

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohmmad Younus Wani ◽  
Mohd Ali Hashim ◽  
Firdosa Nabi ◽  
Maqsood Ahmad Malik
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Level ◽  
Toxic Effects ◽  
New Materials ◽  
Safety Test ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Different Sources

Nanotechnology deals with the construction of new materials, devices, and different technological systems with a wide range of potential applications at the atomic and molecular level. Nanomaterials have attracted great attention for numerous applications in chemical, biological, and industrial world because of their fascinating physicochemical properties. Nanomaterials and nanodevices are being produced intentionally, unintentionally, and manufactured or engineered by different methods and released into the environment without any safety test. Nantoxicity has become the subject of concern in nanoscience and nanotechnology because of the increasing toxic effects of nanomaterials on the living organisms. Nanomaterials can move freely as compared to the large-sized particles; therefore, they can be more toxic than bulky materials. This review article delineates the toxic effects of different types of nanomaterials on the living organisms through different sources, like water, air, contact with skin, and the methods of determinations of these toxic effects.

scholarly journals Guest Editorial, March 2005

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Bill Rawlinson
Keyword(s):  
Guest Editorial ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Living Organisms

Viruses provide a fascinating study. They are the simplest living organisms, and self replicating RNA particles (the earliest viruses), were most likely the earliest organisms on Earth able to replicate and hence promulgate their species. They still represent the simplest known living organisms at a molecular level, particularly if viroids and prions are included within the discussion.

scholarly journals Comparison of the Anion Inhibition Profiles of the α-CA Isoforms (SpiCA1, SpiCA2 and SpiCA3) from the Scleractinian Coral Stylophora pistillata

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 2128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Del Prete ◽  
Silvia Bua ◽  
Didier Zoccola ◽  
Fatmah Alasmary ◽  
Zeid AlOthman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Carbonic Anhydrases ◽  
Efficient Catalyst ◽  
Stylophora Pistillata ◽  
Uncatalyzed Reaction ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Cell Layers ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Living Organisms

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1) are widespread metalloenzymes used by living organisms to accelerate the CO2 hydration/dehydration reaction at rates dramatically high compared to the uncatalyzed reaction. These enzymes have different isoforms and homologues and can be found in the form of cytoplasmic, secreted or membrane-bound proteins. CAs play a role in numerous physiological processes including biomineralization and symbiosis, as is the case in reef-building corals. Previously, molecular and biochemical data have been obtained at the molecular level in the branching coral Stylophora pistillata for two coral isoforms which differ significantly in their catalytic activity and susceptibility to inhibition with anions and sulfonamides. More recently it has been determined that the genome of S. pistillata encodes for 16 CAs. Here, we cloned, expressed, purified and characterized a novel α-CA, named SpiCA3, which is cytoplasmic and ubiquitously expressed in all the cell layers including the calcifying cells. SpiCA3 is the most effective CA among the coral isoforms investigated and the most efficient catalyst known up to date in Metazoa. We also investigated the inhibition profiles of SpiCA3 and compared it with those obtained for the two other isoforms in the presence of inorganic anions and other small molecules known to interfere with metalloenzymes. These results suggest that S. pistillata has adapted its CA isoforms to achieve the physiological functions in different physicochemical microenvironments.

Two-Component Sensing and Regulation: How Do Histidine Kinases Talk with Response Regulators at the Molecular Level?

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 507-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Buschiazzo ◽  
Felipe Trajtenberg
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Level ◽  
Response Regulator ◽  
Response Regulators ◽  
Histidine Kinases ◽  
Universal Principles ◽  
Component Systems ◽  
Two Component ◽  
Two Component Systems ◽  
Internal Information ◽  
Living Organisms

Perceiving environmental and internal information and reacting in adaptive ways are essential attributes of living organisms. Two-component systems are relevant protein machineries from prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes that enable cells to sense and process signals. Implicating sensory histidine kinases and response regulator proteins, both components take advantage of protein phosphorylation and flexibility to switch conformations in a signal-dependent way. Dozens of two-component systems act simultaneously in any given cell, challenging our understanding about the means that ensure proper connectivity. This review dives into the molecular level, attempting to summarize an emerging picture of how histidine kinases and cognate response regulators achieve required efficiency, specificity, and directionality of signaling pathways, properties that rely on protein:protein interactions. α helices that carry information through long distances, the fine combination of loose and specific kinase/regulator interactions, and malleable reaction centers built when the two components meet emerge as relevant universal principles.

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