MiR-338
__NOTOC__ miR-338 is a family of brain-specific microRNA precursors found in mammals, including humans. The ~22 nucleotide mature miRNA sequence is excised from the precursor hairpin by the enzyme Dicer. This sequence then associates with RISC which effects RNA interference. miR-338 is located in an intronic region within the gene for apoptosis-associated tyrosine kinase (AATK). It has been predicted that it may downregulate genes which have a downstream negative effect on AATK expression. Function miR-338 is a brain-specific miRNA which regulates the expression of cytochrome c oxidase IV (COX4). The mature miR-338 miRNA sequence is complementary to a short section of the 3' untranslated region of COX4 mRNA. This mRNA sequence is presented atop a stem-loop structure, indicating it is accessible to miRNA processing. Applications miR-338 is dysregulated in neuroblastoma, and could potentially be implemented as a biomarker or future therapeutic agent. miR-338 has also b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Secondary Structure
Protein secondary structure is the local spatial conformation of the polypeptide backbone excluding the side chains. The two most common Protein structure#Secondary structure, secondary structural elements are alpha helix, alpha helices and beta sheets, though beta turns and omega loops occur as well. Secondary structure elements typically spontaneously form as an intermediate before the protein protein folding, folds into its three dimensional protein tertiary structure, tertiary structure. Secondary structure is formally defined by the pattern of hydrogen bonds between the Amine, amino hydrogen and carboxyl oxygen atoms in the peptide backbone chain, backbone. Secondary structure may alternatively be defined based on the regular pattern of backbone Dihedral angle#Dihedral angles of proteins, dihedral angles in a particular region of the Ramachandran plot regardless of whether it has the correct hydrogen bonds. The concept of secondary structure was first introduced by Kaj Ulrik ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brain
The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for special senses such as visual perception, vision, hearing, and olfaction. Being the most specialized organ, it is responsible for receiving information from the sensory nervous system, processing that information (thought, cognition, and intelligence) and the coordination of motor control (muscle activity and endocrine system). While invertebrate brains arise from paired segmental ganglia (each of which is only responsible for the respective segmentation (biology), body segment) of the ventral nerve cord, vertebrate brains develop axially from the midline dorsal nerve cord as a brain vesicle, vesicular enlargement at the rostral (anatomical term), rostral end of the neural tube, with centralized control over all body segments. All vertebr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and is currently the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis. HCC is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC most commonly occurs in those with chronic liver disease especially those with cirrhosis or fibrosis, which occur in the setting of chronic liver injury and inflammation. HCC is rare in those without chronic liver disease. Chronic liver diseases which greatly increase the risk of HCC include hepatitis infection such as (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, C or hepatitis D, D), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), alcoholic liver disease, or exposure to toxins such as aflatoxin, or pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Certain diseases, such as HFE hereditary haemochromatosis, hemochromatosis and alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, markedly increase the risk of developing HCC. The five-year survival in those with HCC is 18%. As with any cancer, the treatment and prognosis of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Biomarker
In biomedical contexts, a biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated using blood, urine, or soft tissues to examine normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention. as cited in Biomarkers are used in many scientific fields. Medicine Biomarkers used in the medical field, are a part of a relatively new clinical toolset categorized by their clinical applications. The four main classes are molecular, physiologic, histologic and radiographic biomarkers. All four types of biomarkers have a clinical role in narrowing or guiding treatment decisions and follow a sub-categorization of being either predictive, prognostic, or diagnostic. Predictive Predictive molecular, cellular, or imaging biomarkers that pass validation can serve as a method of predicting clinical outcomes. Predictive biomarkers are used to help optimize ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It most frequently starts from one of the adrenal glands but can also develop in the head, neck, chest, abdomen, or Vertebral column, spine. Symptoms may include bone pain, a lump in the abdomen, neck, or chest, or a painless bluish lump under the skin. Typically, neuroblastoma occurs due to a genetic mutation occurring in the first trimester of pregnancy. Rarely, it may be due to a mutation heredity, inherited. Environmental factors have not been found to be involved. Diagnosis is based on a tissue biopsy. Occasionally, it may be found in a baby by ultrasound during pregnancy. At diagnosis, the cancer has usually already Metastasis, spread. The cancer is divided into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups based on a child's age, cancer stage, and what the cancer looks like. Treatment and outcomes depends on the risk group a person is in. Treatments may include observation, surgery, radiatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stem-loop
Stem-loops are nucleic acid Biomolecular structure, secondary structural elements which form via intramolecular base pairing in single-stranded DNA or RNA. They are also referred to as hairpins or hairpin loops. A stem-loop occurs when two regions of the same nucleic acid strand, usually Complementarity (molecular biology), complementary in nucleotide sequence, base-pair to form a double helix that ends in a loop of unpaired nucleotides. Stem-loops are most commonly found in RNA, and are a key building block of many RNA biomolecular structure#Secondary structure, secondary structures. Stem-loops can direct RNA folding, protect structural stability for messenger RNA (mRNA), provide recognition sites for RNA-binding protein, RNA binding proteins, and serve as a Substrate (chemistry), substrate for Enzyme catalysis, enzymatic reactions. Formation and stability The formation of a stem-loop is dependent on the stability of the helix and loop regions. The first prerequisite is the p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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MRNA
In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of Protein biosynthesis, synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the process of Transcription (biology), transcription, where an enzyme (RNA polymerase) converts the gene into primary transcript mRNA (also known as pre-mRNA). This pre-mRNA usually still contains introns, regions that will not go on to code for the final amino acid sequence. These are removed in the process of RNA splicing, leaving only exons, regions that will encode the protein. This exon sequence constitutes mature mRNA. Mature mRNA is then read by the ribosome, and the ribosome creates the protein utilizing amino acids carried by transfer RNA (tRNA). This process is known as Translation (biology), translation. All of these processes form part of the central dogma of molecular biology, which describes the flow of geneti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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3' Untranslated Region
In molecular genetics, the three prime untranslated region (3′-UTR) is the section of messenger RNA (mRNA) that immediately follows the translation termination codon. The 3′-UTR often contains regulatory regions that post-transcriptionally influence gene expression. During gene expression, an mRNA molecule is transcribed from the DNA sequence and is later translated into a protein. Several regions of the mRNA molecule are not translated into a protein including the 5' cap, 5' untranslated region, 3′ untranslated region and poly(A) tail. Regulatory regions within the 3′-untranslated region can influence polyadenylation, translation efficiency, localization, and stability of the mRNA. The 3′-UTR contains binding sites for both regulatory proteins and microRNAs (miRNAs). By binding to specific sites within the 3′-UTR, miRNAs can decrease gene expression of various mRNAs by either inhibiting translation or directly causing degradation of the transcript. The 3′-U ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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COX4I1
Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4 isoform 1, mitochondrial (COX4I1) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''COX4I1'' gene. COX4I1 is a nuclear-encoded isoform of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) subunit 4. Cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV) is a multi-subunit enzyme complex that couples the transfer of electrons from cytochrome c to molecular oxygen and contributes to a proton electrochemical gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane, acting as the terminal enzyme of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Antibodies against COX4 can be used to identify the inner membrane of mitochondria in immunofluorescence studies. Mutations in COX4I1 have been associated with COX deficiency and Fanconi anemia. Structure ''COX4I1'' is located on the q arm of chromosome 16 in position 24.1 and has 6 exons. The ''COX4I1'' gene produces a 9.3 kDa protein composed of 83 amino acids. ''COX4I1'' is expressed ubiquitously. The protein encoded by ''COX4I1'' belongs to the cytochrome c oxidase IV f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AATK
Serine/threonine-protein kinase LMTK1 (also known as Apoptosis-associated tyrosine kinase) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the (''AATK'') gene. Structure and expression The gene was identified in 1998. It is located on chromosome 17 (17q25.3) and is expressed in the pancreas, kidney, brain and lungs. The protein is composed of 1,207 amino acids. Function The protein contains a tyrosine kinase domain at the N-terminal end and a proline-rich domain at the C-terminal end. Studies of the mouse homologue have indicated that it may be necessary for the induction of growth arrest and/or apoptosis of myeloid precursor cells. It may also have a role in inducing differentiation in neuronal cells. Its suppressive role on melanoma development has been reported recently. AATK is thought to indirectly inhibit the SPAK/WNK4 Serine/threonine protein kinase WNK4 also known as With No lysine (K) protein kinase 4 (WNK4), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''WNK4'' gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mammalia
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles and birds, from which their ancestors diverged in the Carboniferous Period over 300 million years ago. Around 6,640 extant species of mammals have been described and divided into 27 orders. The study of mammals is called mammalogy. The largest orders of mammals, by number of species, are the rodents, bats, and eulipotyphlans (including hedgehogs, moles and shrews). The next three are the primates (including humans, monkeys and lemurs), the even-toed ungulates (including pigs, camels, and whales), and the Carnivora (including cats, dogs, and seals). Mammals are the only living members of Synapsida; this clade, together with Sauropsida (reptiles and birds), constitut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protein-coding genes and non-coding genes. During gene expression (the synthesis of Gene product, RNA or protein from a gene), DNA is first transcription (biology), copied into RNA. RNA can be non-coding RNA, directly functional or be the intermediate protein biosynthesis, template for the synthesis of a protein. The transmission of genes to an organism's offspring, is the basis of the inheritance of phenotypic traits from one generation to the next. These genes make up different DNA sequences, together called a genotype, that is specific to every given individual, within the gene pool of the population (biology), population of a given species. The genotype, along with environmental and developmental factors, ultimately determines the phenotype ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |