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5 Methyl Cytosine
5-Methylcytosine (5mC) is a methylated form of the DNA base cytosine (C) that regulates gene transcription and takes several other biological roles. When cytosine is methylated, the DNA maintains the same sequence, but the expression of methylated genes can be altered (the study of this is part of the field of epigenetics). 5-Methylcytosine is incorporated in the nucleoside 5-methylcytidine. Discovery While trying to isolate the bacterial toxin responsible for tuberculosis, W.G. Ruppel isolated a novel nucleic acid named tuberculinic acid in 1898 from ''Tubercle bacillus''. The nucleic acid was found to be unusual, in that it contained in addition to thymine, guanine and cytosine, a methylated nucleotide. In 1925, Johnson and Coghill successfully detected a minor amount of a methylated cytosine derivative as a product of hydrolysis of tuberculinic acid with sulfuric acid. This report was severely criticized because their identification was based solely on the optical proper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methylation
Methylation, in the chemistry, chemical sciences, is the addition of a methyl group on a substrate (chemistry), substrate, or the substitution of an atom (or group) by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation, with a methyl group replacing a hydrogen#Compounds, hydrogen atom. These terms are commonly used in chemistry, biochemistry, soil science, and biology. In biological systems, methylation is Catalysis, catalyzed by enzymes; such methylation can be involved in modification of heavy metals, regulation of gene expression, regulation of Protein#Functions, protein function, and RNA processing. ''In vitro'' methylation of tissue samples is also a way to reduce some histology#Histological Artifacts, histological staining artifacts. The reverse of methylation is demethylation. In biology In biological systems, methylation is accomplished by enzymes. Methylation can modify heavy metals and can regulate gene expression, RNA processing, and protein function. It is a key pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picrate
A picrate is a salt containing the anion (O2N)3C6H2O− or an ester derivative of the picrate anion. These salts are often produced by reactions of picric acid (2,4,6-trinitrophenol). The picrate ion is intensely yellow, although many of its salts are brown or orange-red. Explosives Many picrates are explosives, for example ammonium picrate (known as Dunnite). Some are used as primary explosives, namely lead picrate or potassium picrate which find their use as primers for cartridge ammunition. Picrates of some metals tend to be significantly more sensitive to impact, friction and shock than picric acid itself. As a result, storage of picric acid (or mixtures containing it) in metal containers is strongly discouraged due to the high risk of accidental explosion. Other uses Ferrous picrate is used in some applications as a diesel fuel additive to achieve better mileage. Sodium picrate is used as an etchant in metallography to differ preeutectoid ferrite in hypoeutectoid st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5-hydroxymethylcytosine
5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is a DNA pyrimidine nitrogen base derived from cytosine. It is potentially important in epigenetics, because the hydroxymethyl group on the cytosine can possibly switch a gene on and off. It was first seen in bacteriophages in 1952. However, in 2009 it was found to be abundant in human and mouse brains, as well as in embryonic stem cells. In mammals, it can be generated by oxidation of 5-methylcytosine, a reaction mediated by TET enzymes. Localization Every mammalian cell seems to contain 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine, but the levels vary significantly depending on the cell type. The highest levels are found in neuronal cells of the central nervous system. The amount of hydroxymethylcytosine increases with age, as shown in mouse hippocampus and cerebellum. Function The exact function of this nitrogen base is still not fully elucidated, but it is thought that it may regulate gene expression or prompt DNA demethylation. This hypothesis is supported by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
APOBEC
image:Apobec.J.Steinfeld.D.png, 300px, upExample of a member of the APOBEC family, APOBEC-2. A cytidine deaminase from ''Homo sapiens''.; ; rendered usinPyMOL APOBEC ("apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide") is a family of evolutionarily conserved cytidine deaminases. Function A mechanism of generating protein diversity is mRNA editing. The APOBEC family of proteins perform mRNA modifications by deaminating cytidine bases to uracil. The N-terminal domain of APOBEC-like proteins is the catalytic domain, while the C-terminal domain is a pseudocatalytic domain. More specifically, the catalytic domain is a zinc dependent cytidine deaminase domain and is essential for cytidine deamination. The positively charged zinc ion in the catalytic domain attracts to the partial-negative charge of RNA. In the case of APOBEC-1, the mRNA transcript of intestinal apolipoprotein B is altered. RNA editing by APOBEC-1 requires homodimerization and this complex interacts wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transition (genetics)
Transition, in genetics and molecular biology, refers to a point mutation that changes a purine nucleotide to another purine (Adenine, A ↔ Guanine, G), or a pyrimidine nucleotide to another pyrimidine (Cytosine, C ↔ Thymine, T). Approximately two out of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are transitions. Transitions can be caused by oxidative deamination and tautomerization. Although there are twice as many possible transversions, transitions appear more often in genomes, possibly due to the molecular mechanisms that generate them. Transitions are more likely to be Synonymous substitution, synonymous substitutions than transversions, as one observes in the DNA and RNA codon tables, codon table. 5-Methylcytosine is more prone to transition than unmethylated cytosine, due to spontaneous deamination. This mechanism is important because it dictates the rarity of CpG islands. See also * Transversion References External links Diagram at mun.ca Mutation {{Ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deamination
Deamination is the removal of an amino group from a molecule. Enzymes that catalysis, catalyse this reaction are called deaminases. In the human body, deamination takes place primarily in the liver; however, it can also occur in the kidney. In situations of excess protein intake, deamination is used to break down amino acids for energy. The amino group is removed from the amino acid and converted to ammonia. The rest of the amino acid is made up of mostly carbon and hydrogen, and is recycled or oxidized for energy. Ammonia is toxic to the human system, and enzymes convert it to urea or uric acid by addition of carbon dioxide molecules (which is not considered a deamination process) in the urea cycle, which also takes place in the liver. Urea and uric acid can safely diffuse into the blood and then be excreted in urine. Deamination reactions in DNA Cytosine Spontaneous deamination is the hydrolysis reaction of cytosine into uracil, releasing ammonia in the process. This can occu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebrate
Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebrata with some 65,000 species, by far the largest ranked grouping in the phylum Chordata. The vertebrates include mammals, birds, amphibians, and various classes of fish and reptiles. The fish include the jawless Agnatha, and the jawed Gnathostomata. The jawed fish include both the Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fish and the Osteichthyes, bony fish. Bony fish include the Sarcopterygii, lobe-finned fish, which gave rise to the tetrapods, the animals with four limbs. Despite their success, vertebrates still only make up less than five percent of all described animal species. The first vertebrates appeared in the Cambrian explosion some 518 million years ago. Jawed vertebrates evolved in the Ordovician, followed by bony fishes in the Devonian. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eukaryote
The eukaryotes ( ) constitute the Domain (biology), domain of Eukaryota or Eukarya, organisms whose Cell (biology), cells have a membrane-bound cell nucleus, nucleus. All animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, seaweeds, and many unicellular organisms are eukaryotes. They constitute a major group of Outline of life forms, life forms alongside the two groups of prokaryotes: the Bacteria and the Archaea. Eukaryotes represent a small minority of the number of organisms, but given their generally much larger size, their collective global biomass is much larger than that of prokaryotes. The eukaryotes emerged within the archaeal Kingdom (biology), kingdom Asgard (Archaea), Promethearchaeati and its sole phylum Promethearchaeota. This implies that there are only Two-domain system, two domains of life, Bacteria and Archaea, with eukaryotes incorporated among the Archaea. Eukaryotes first emerged during the Paleoproterozoic, likely as Flagellated cell, flagellated cells. The leading evolutiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CpG Site
The CpG sites or CG sites are regions of DNA where a cytosine nucleotide is followed by a guanine nucleotide in the linear sequence of bases along its 5' → 3' direction. CpG sites occur with high frequency in genomic regions called CpG islands. Cytosines in CpG dinucleotides can be methylated to form 5-methylcytosines. Enzymes that add a methyl group are called DNA methyltransferases. In mammals, 70% to 80% of CpG cytosines are methylated. Methylating the cytosine within a gene can change its expression, a mechanism that is part of a larger field of science studying gene regulation that is called epigenetics. Methylated cytosines often mutate to thymines. In humans, about 70% of promoters located near the transcription start site of a gene (proximal promoters) contain a CpG island. CpG characteristics Definition ''CpG'' is shorthand for ''5'—C—phosphate—G—3' '', that is, cytosine and guanine separated by only one phosphate group; phosphate links any two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Restriction Enzymes
A restriction enzyme, restriction endonuclease, REase, ENase or'' restrictase '' is an enzyme that cleaves DNA into fragments at or near specific recognition sites within molecules known as restriction sites. Restriction enzymes are one class of the broader endonuclease group of enzymes. Restriction enzymes are commonly classified into five types, which differ in their structure and whether they cut their DNA substrate at their recognition site, or if the recognition and cleavage sites are separate from one another. To cut DNA, all restriction enzymes make two incisions, once through each sugar-phosphate backbone (i.e. each strand) of the DNA double helix. These enzymes are found in bacteria and archaea and provide a defense mechanism against invading viruses. Inside a prokaryote, the restriction enzymes selectively cut up ''foreign'' DNA in a process called ''restriction digestion''; meanwhile, host DNA is protected by a modification enzyme (a methyltransferase) that modifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uracil
Uracil () (nucleoside#List of nucleosides and corresponding nucleobases, symbol U or Ura) is one of the four nucleotide bases in the nucleic acid RNA. The others are adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). In RNA, uracil binds to adenine via two hydrogen bonds. In DNA, the uracil nucleobase is replaced by thymine (T). Uracil is a demethylated form of thymine. Uracil is a common and naturally occurring pyrimidine derivative. The name "uracil" was coined in 1885 by the German chemist Robert Behrend, who was attempting to synthesize derivatives of uric acid. Originally discovered in 1900 by Alberto Ascoli, it was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein; it was also found in bovine thymus and spleen, herring sperm, and wheat Cereal germ, germ. It is a planar, unsaturated compound that has the ability to absorb light. Uracil that was formed extraterrestrially has been detected in the Murchison meteorite, in near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu, Ryugu, and possibly on the surface of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paper Chromatography
Paper chromatography is an analytical method used to separate colored chemicals or substances. It can also be used for colorless chemicals that can be located by a stain or other visualisation method after separation. It is now primarily used as a teaching tool, having been replaced in the laboratory by other chromatography methods such as thin-layer chromatography (TLC). This analytic method has three components, a mobile phase, stationary phase and a support medium (the paper). The mobile phase is generally a non-polar organic solvent in which the sample is dissolved. The stationary phase consists of (polar) water molecules that were incorporated into the paper when it was manufactured. The mobile phase travels up the stationary phase by capillary action, carrying the sample with it. The difference between TLC and paper chromatography is that the stationary phase in TLC is a layer of adsorbent (usually silica gel, or aluminium oxide), and the stationary phase in paper chromato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
