Journal #14

 Vocabulary 

SCNT - Somatic cell nuclear transfer

The nucleus of a somatic (body) cell is transferred to the cytoplasm of an enucleated egg in a procedure known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. The primary biological goal of SCNT is to reverse the differentiated status of a somatic cell in order to produce blastocysts from which embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can be obtained for therapeutic or reproductive cloning.

Necrosis

It is the accidental death of the cells from the acute injury.

Bax and Bak 

 These are two nuclear-encoded proteins found in higher eukaryotes that can penetrate the mitochondrial outer membrane and cause apoptotic cell death.

Vocabulary: Journal #13

 

Journal #13: Vocabulary

Glucocorticoid 

A corticosteroid is a type of compound that belongs to the corticosteroid family (steroids). Glucocorticoids contain anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties, and they alter metabolism. They can be created naturally (hormones) or synthetically (drugs).

Autocrine signaling

Autocrine signaling occurs when a cell secretes a hormone or chemical messenger that binds to autocrine receptors on the same cell, causing the cell to alter.

Agonist

When a chemical is coupled with a receptor, it causes a physiological response.

Eicosanoids 

Eicosanoids are signaling molecules produced by the enzymatic or non-enzymatic oxidation of arachidonic acid or other polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). 

 Journal #12 - Vocabulary 

Hello Journal readers,

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: 

This is a set of inherited nerve-damaging illnesses. The majority of the injury occurs in the arms and legs (peripheral nerves). This is a disease that can be caused from the mutations in the gap junctions where Cx32/B1 connexin protein is affected. It causes the muscles to smaller and weaker. Another name given to this disease is hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy.

Collagen:

Major structural protein of the Extracellular matrix

Glycosaminoglycans:

GAGs are negatively charged polysaccharide molecules also known as mucopolysaccharides. They are made up of repeating disaccharide units found in all mammalian tissues. Their molecular structure determines their wide range of actions throughout the body.

Encounter blog #11

 

Hello,

I recently had a conversation with someone who claimed that liver cirrhosis is a disease that exclusively affects heavy drinkers. It's a common question that everybody with liver problems gets asked. However, this is not the case. Even people who have never tasted alcohol in their lifetimes can develop liver problems. This was something I was looking for while doing research for my assignment. I came across a flyer which said this condition in which individuals get diagnosed with liver damage without the intake of alcohol or any other types of drugs is called "Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or otherwise in some cases "Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis" (NASH)" which in long term can further develop into liver cancer or liver cirrhosis. This means, there can be several reasons why someone gets liver diseases including obesity, hepatitis B and C, and diabetes. 

Below is a picture that I found in which the stages of liver damages can occur. 

https://depositphotos.com/216152820/stock-illustration-stages-liver-damage-concept-vector.html

https://cpmiclinical.com/studies/#!/study/3

VOCAB JOURNAL #10

 JOURNAL #10 -VOCABULARY

ACTIN TREADMILLING 

    Constant removal of actin monomers from filament pointed ends and their reincorporation at barbed ends are required for the cell mobility. 

FORMINS

    Formins are a collection of proteins involved in actin polymerization and associated with actin filaments' fast-growing end (barbed end).

Cofilin

    Cofilin is an actin-binding protein that controls filament depolymerization and dynamics.

VOCAB JOURNAL #9

 VOCABULARY 

Protein sorting

Proteins are carried in vesicles from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus, where they are further processed and sorted for transport to lysosomes, the plasma membrane, or cell secretion.

KDEL

This is a receptor of an integral membrane protein that is found in the Golgi/intermediate compartment and is responsible for retrieving ER proteins with a C-terminal KDEL sequence that have escaped. This occurs in all COPI-coated transport carriers that carry retrograde traffic.

Melanosomes

 Organelles that generate and store melanin, a common biological pigment with a unique set of features such as a high refractive index, semiconducting properties, and high fossilization potential.

Reflection Journal #8

 Hello Journal,

    A few days ago in my Cell Biology class, we were discussing the prions. A prion is a protein that causes normal proteins in the brain to fold improperly.  "Mad Cow disease" was one of the disorders caused by prions that we discussed in class. Mad cow disease is a disease that infects cattle and causes a gradual deterioration of the brain and spinal cord. And variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a deadly degenerative disease that affects the brain and spinal cord in humans over time. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is another name for this condition (or BSE). I smiled at the name "Mad Cow disease" when I first heard it since it seemed amusing to me. However, it is so awful that it can be fatal. This is a brain disease that can be passed from mature cattle to humans through infected meat. Humans can contract the sickness by eating tainted meat. When it comes from cattle, the sickness is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and it causes dementia and death. This is a rather uncommon condition. The illness is marked by rapid mental decline, which can happen in as little as a few months. The vast majority of victims suffer due to their injuries and fall into a coma. Because research is still ongoing, there is presently no treatment for this condition. However, according to certain countries that have implemented a prohibition on giving meat and bone meals to cattle in areas where the disease has been detected, the disease itself has reduced.

Journal #7 - Vocabulary

Hello journal,

VOCABULARY TIME..

SNARE Proteins (T-snare & V-snare)

SNARE proteins are molecular motors that allow two membranes to fuse biologically [1]. The vesicle membrane (v-SNAREs) contains part of the motor assembly, while the target membrane (t-SNAREs) contains the other half.

Vesicle budding

Protein sorting is a method for selectively incorporating cargo into developing vesicles while leaving resident proteins in the donor compartment.

Coat proteins 

Coat proteins concentrate macromolecules onto specialized membrane patches, which are subsequently deformed into miniature coated vesicles, allowing selective transport of macromolecules from one membrane-enclosed compartment to another.

Journal #6: Investigation

 Hello Journal,

   In this journal, I'm discussing some articles and information I investigated to study a disease called myeloma or multiple myeloma. So, what is myeloma? Well, myeloma in simple terms is cancer that affects the plasma cells in the bone marrow. However, this disease is not limited to just staying inside the bone marrow as this disease progresses, the clonal cells tend to develop the ability to multiply outside of the bone marrow resulting in extramedullary myeloma (EMM) and plasma cell leukemia (PCL). One of the articles that I read for this investigation was titled "Understanding the multiple biological aspects leading to myeloma" by a few authors named Eileen M. Boyle, Faith E. Davies, Xavier Leleu, and  Gareth J. Morgan. This article was published in the PMC - US National library of medicine & National institutes of health. PMC publishers are one of my most chosen and favorite websites which use for most of my research. It is a creditable website that comes from government-owned websites that includes finding primary research articles as well as review articles and journals. This specific article about myeloma, this article talks about different aspects that may lead to myeloma. This not only talks about the aspects, but it also helped me understand how the actual plasma cells development happens. Some of the aspects that this article talks about are the clinical behavior of different cases with myeloma, environmental and inherited contributions, the niche of the bone marrow which plays an important role in the disease, the different mutations that occur in the DNA which contributes to myeloma, myeloma evolution, and the different implications of patients who have myeloma. According to this article, it was found out from different patients that myeloma occurs when there are mutations in the site of BIRC2 and BIRC3 genes, CYLD and 14q32 the site of TRAF3 which all belongs to the genes that are involved in the F-κB pathway, indicating that upregulation of NF-κB signaling is important in myeloma. Also, a Tumor suppressor and cell cycle deregulations are one other factor that contributes to myeloma. Overall, this article was an excellent one that gave a lot of information about the causes and consequences of the abnormalities occurring in normal B cells that lead to myeloma. It has also been made clear that in addition to the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that lead to myeloma progression, the degree of inter-and intraclonal heterogeneity adds to the complexity.

Citation: Boyle, Eileen M et al. “Understanding the multiple biological aspects leading to myeloma.” Haematologica vol. 99,4 (2014): 605-12. doi:10.3324/haematol.2013.097907

    I also viewed and read some information about the vaccines for myeloma from a website called "Creative Biolabs". This website also provided some information about myeloma as a hematological cancer disease and also talked about some available vaccines for myeloma. According to creative Biolabs, myeloma is an incurable but treatable condition where people with family history, obesity, alcohol, radiation exposure, and certain chemicals are all some risk factors. Also, there can be no symptoms initially for this malignant disease but later as the disease progress, symptoms like bone pain in the areas of the spine and chest, constipation, nausea, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue, confusion, or mental fogginess, frequent infections can be seen. Some treatments involve Chemotherapy, thalidomide, or lenalidomide, as well as stem cell transplantation, which may help. To treat the discomfort of bone lesions, bisphosphonates and radiation are sometimes employed. Moreover, cellular and non- cell-based vaccines are also available to treat/prevent myeloma. 

Citation: Vaccines for myeloma. Vaccines for Myeloma - Creative Biolabs. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.creative-biolabs.com/vaccine/vaccines-for-myeloma.htm 

Encounter Journal #5

 Hello Journal,

I noticed my father clawing his skin so hard a few days ago (especially his leg). He's a psoriatic patient, and it's difficult to look at his skin and see him scratching all over. Psoriasis is a skin ailment in which red, itchy scaly patches appear on the knees, elbows, trunk, and scalp, among other locations. My father is currently at an advanced stage of psoriasis, which means he has psoriasis all over his body—elbows, hands, neck, posterior parts of his body, legs, and thighs. Even though psoriasis is an autoimmune illness, something happens to his cells. When I was younger, I used to wonder why his body (including the skin on his legs, scalp, hands, and palms, among other places) removes so many dandruff-like substances. And he explained to me that those are his dying cells. I was terrified when I heard it for the first time. I didn't have any scientific background at the time, and my first thought was that something terrible was going to happen to my father as his cells died. However, when I learned more about it, I realized that with psoriasis, the life cycle of skin cells is substantially accelerated, resulting in an accumulation of dead cells on the epidermis surface.

Vocabulary Journal #4

 

Hellooo Journal,

IT'S VOCABULARY TIME..

Glycosylation 

A controlled enzymatic modification that adds a sugar molecule to an organic molecule, usually a protein. It has a significant impact on protein structure, function, and stability. Glycosylation is known to change the structural three-dimensional organization of proteins.

Aminoacyl-tRNA 

It is the charged tRNA that has a chemical link with its corresponding amino acid (charged).  The aa-tRNA transports the amino acid to the ribosome, where it is incorporated into the polypeptide chain formed during translation, along with certain elongation factors.

Wobble Effect 

The wobble effect explains why many codons can code for the same amino acid. That is, because of the less-precise base pairings that can form between the 3rd base of the codon and the base at the 1st position on the anticodon, a single tRNA molecule (with one amino acid attached) can recognize and bind to many codons.