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Vanabins
Vanabins (also known as vanadium-associated proteins or vanadium chromagen) are a group of vanadium-binding proteins. metalloproteins. Vanabins are found almost exclusively in the blood cells, or vanadocytes, of some tunicates (sea squirts), including the Ascidiacea. The vanabins extracted from tunicate vanadocytes are often called hemovanadins. These organisms are able to concentrate vanadium from the surrounding seawater, and vanabin proteins have been involved in collecting and accumulating this metal ion. At present there is no conclusive understanding of why these organisms collect vanadium. Possible function Vanabins as oxygen carriers Because of the high concentration of vanadium in the blood, it has been assumed that vanabins are used for oxygen transport like iron-based hemoglobin or copper-based hemocyanin. Unfortunately no scientific evidence can be found to back this hypothesis. The highest concentration of vanadium found so far, 350 mM, was found in the blood cells ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( passivation) somewhat stabilizes the free metal against further oxidation. Spanish scientist Andrés Manuel del Río discovered compounds of vanadium in 1801 in Mexico by analyzing a new lead-bearing mineral he called "brown lead". Though he initially presumed its qualities were due to the presence of a new element, he was later erroneously convinced by French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils that the element was just chromium. Then in 1830, Nils Gabriel Sefström generated chlorides of vanadium, thus proving there was a new element, and named it "vanadium" after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility, Vanadís (Freyja). The name was based on the wide range of colors found in vanadium compounds. Del Rio's lead mineral was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocytes) of almost all vertebrates (the exception being the fish family Channichthyidae) as well as the tissues of some invertebrates. Hemoglobin in blood carries oxygen from the respiratory organs (''e.g.'' lungs or gills) to the rest of the body (''i.e.'' tissues). There it releases the oxygen to permit aerobic respiration to provide energy to power functions of an organism in the process called metabolism. A healthy individual human has 12to 20grams of hemoglobin in every 100mL of blood. In mammals, the chromoprotein makes up about 96% of the red blood cells' dry content (by weight), and around 35% of the total content (including water). Hemoglobin has an oxygen-binding capacity of 1.34mL O2 per gram, which increases the total blood oxy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunicate
A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time called Urochordata, and the term urochordates is still sometimes used for these animals. They are the only chordates that have lost their myomeric segmentation, with the possible exception of the 'seriation of the gill slits'. Some tunicates live as solitary individuals, but others replicate by budding and become colonies, each unit being known as a zooid. They are marine filter feeders with a water-filled, sac-like body structure and two tubular openings, known as siphons, through which they draw in and expel water. During their respiration and feeding, they take in water through the incurrent (or inhalant) siphon and expel the filtered water through the excurrent (or exhalant) siphon. Most adult tunicates are sessile, immobile and pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanadocytes
A vanadocyte is a specialized type of blood cell found in ascidians (tunicates). These cells are notable for their high levels of vanadium (concentrations 107 higher than that of seawater), which is typically a metabolic poison in other contexts. Structure and description Vanadocytes are specialized blood cells found in marine tunicates. These cells are 8-13 μm in size and the cytoplasm contains many acidic globules, termed "vanadophores". These cells are one of several types found in the ascidian circulatory system and are abundant in the blood. The cells are described as highly distinctive, with little variation between species. They have a circular outline that decays into a rosette form upon desiccation, with several inclusions that almost entirely fill the cell. The cell has a greenish color, varying from dark apple to scarcely perceptible, due to their vanadium complexes. These green cells are not, as was initially believed, symbiotic zooxanthellae, although ascidian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adenosine Triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is an organic compound that provides energy to drive many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, condensate dissolution, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms of life, ATP is often referred to as the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. When consumed in metabolic processes, it converts either to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) or to adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Other processes regenerate ATP. The human body recycles its own body weight equivalent in ATP each day. It is also a precursor to DNA and RNA, and is used as a coenzyme. From the perspective of biochemistry, ATP is classified as a nucleoside triphosphate, which indicates that it consists of three components: a nitrogenous base ( adenine), the sugar ribose, and the triphosphate. Structure ATP consists of an adenine attached by the 9-nitrogen atom to the 1′ carbon atom of a sugar ( ribose), which in tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dissociation Constant
In chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology, a dissociation constant (K_D) is a specific type of equilibrium constant that measures the propensity of a larger object to separate (dissociate) reversibly into smaller components, as when a complex falls apart into its component molecules, or when a salt splits up into its component ions. The dissociation constant is the inverse of the association constant. In the special case of salts, the dissociation constant can also be called an ionization constant. For a general reaction: : A_\mathit B_\mathit \mathit A + \mathit B in which a complex \ce_x \ce_y breaks down into ''x'' A subunits and ''y'' B subunits, the dissociation constant is defined as : K_D = \frac where and ''x'' B''y''are the equilibrium concentrations of A, B, and the complex A''x'' B''y'', respectively. One reason for the popularity of the dissociation constant in biochemistry and pharmacology is that in the frequently enc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosthetic Group
A prosthetic group is the non-amino acid component that is part of the structure of the heteroproteins or conjugated proteins, being tightly linked to the apoprotein. Not to be confused with the cofactor that binds to the enzyme apoenzyme (either a holoprotein or heteroprotein) by non-covalent binding a non-protein (non-amino acid) This is a component of a conjugated protein that is required for the protein's biological activity. The prosthetic group may be organic (such as a vitamin, sugar, RNA, phosphate or lipid) or inorganic (such as a metal ion). Prosthetic groups are bound tightly to proteins and may even be attached through a covalent bond. They often play an important role in enzyme catalysis. A protein without its prosthetic group is called an apoprotein, while a protein combined with its prosthetic group is called a holoprotein. A non-covalently bound prosthetic group cannot generally be removed from the holoprotein without denaturating the protein. Thus, the te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlorin
In organic chemistry, chlorins are tetrapyrrole pigments that are partially hydrogenated porphyrins. The parent chlorin is an unstable compound which undergoes air oxidation to porphine. The name chlorin derives from chlorophyll. Chlorophylls are magnesium-containing chlorins and occur as photosynthetic pigments in chloroplasts. The reduced chlorin variants are present in bacteriochlorophylls and are named ‘bacteriochlorins’ and ‘isobacteriochlorins’. Chlorins are excellent photosensitizing agents. Various synthetic chlorins analogues such as m-tetrahydroxyphenylchlorin (mTHPC) and mono-L-aspartyl chlorin e6 are effectively employed in experimental photodynamic therapy as photosensitizer. Chlorophylls The most abundant chlorin is the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophylls have a fifth, ketone-containing ring unlike the chlorins. Diverse chlorophylls exists, such as chlorophyll ''a'', chlorophyll ''b'', chlorophyll ''d'', chlorophyll ''e'', chlor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to absorb energy from light. Chlorophylls absorb light most strongly in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as the red portion. Conversely, it is a poor absorber of green and near-green portions of the spectrum. Hence chlorophyll-containing tissues appear green because green light, diffusively reflected by structures like cell walls, is less absorbed. Two types of chlorophyll exist in the photosystems of green plants: chlorophyll ''a'' and ''b''. History Chlorophyll was first isolated and named by Joseph Bienaimé Caventou and Pierre Joseph Pelletier in 1817. The presence of magnesium in chlorophyll was discovered in 1906, and was that element's first detection in living tissue. After initial work done by German ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redox
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a decrease in the oxidation state. There are two classes of redox reactions: * ''Electron-transfer'' – Only one (usually) electron flows from the reducing agent to the oxidant. This type of redox reaction is often discussed in terms of redox couples and electrode potentials. * ''Atom transfer'' – An atom transfers from one substrate to another. For example, in the rusting of iron, the oxidation state of iron atoms increases as the iron converts to an oxide, and simultaneously the oxidation state of oxygen decreases as it accepts electrons released by the iron. Although oxidation reactions are commonly associated with the formation of oxides, other chemical species can serve the same function. In hydrogenation, C=C (and other) bonds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodopseudomonas Palustris
''Rhodopseudomonas palustris'' is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative purple nonsulfur bacterium, notable for its ability to switch between four different modes of metabolism. ''R. palustris'' is found extensively in nature, and has been isolated from swine waste lagoons, earthworm droppings, marine coastal sediments, and pond water. Although purple nonsulfur bacteria are normally photoheterotrophic, ''R. palustris'' can flexibly switch among any of the four modes of metabolism that support life: photoautotrophic, photoheterotrophic, chemoautotrophic, or chemoheterotrophic. Etymology ''R. palustris'' is usually found as a wad of slimy masses, and cultures appear from pale brown to peach-colored. Etymologically, ''rhodum'' is a Greek noun meaning rose, ''pseudes'' is the Greek adjective for false, and ''monas'' refers to a unit in Greek. Therefore, ''Rhodopseudomonas'', which implies a unit of false rose, describes the appearance of the bacteria. ''Palustris'' is Latin for marshy, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
