Urocanic Acid
Urocanic acid (formally ''trans''-Urocanic acid) is an intermediate in the catabolism of L-histidine. The cis-urocanic acid, ''cis''-urocanic acid isomer is rare. Metabolism It is formed from L-histidine through the action of histidine ammonialyase (also known as histidase or histidinase) by elimination of ammonium. In the liver, urocanic acid is transformed by urocanate hydratase (or urocanase) to 4-imidazolone-5-propionic acid and subsequently to glutamic acid. Clinical significance Inherited deficiency of urocanase leads to elevated levels of urocanic acid in the urine, a condition known as urocanic aciduria. An important role for the onset of atopic dermatitis and asthma has been attributed to filaggrin, a skin precursor of urocanic acid. Urocanic acid is thought to be a significant attractant of the nematode parasite ''Strongyloides stercoralis'', in part because of relatively high levels in the plantar surfaces of the feet, the site through which this parasite often enters ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Catabolism
Catabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that breaks down molecules into smaller units that are either oxidized to release energy or used in other anabolic reactions. Catabolism breaks down large molecules (such as polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins) into smaller units (such as monosaccharides, fatty acids, nucleotides, and amino acids, respectively). Catabolism is the breaking-down aspect of metabolism, whereas anabolism is the building-up aspect. Cells use the monomers released from breaking down polymers to either construct new polymer molecules or degrade the monomers further to simple waste products, releasing energy. Cellular wastes include lactic acid, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and urea. The formation of these wastes is usually an oxidation process involving a release of chemical free energy, some of which is lost as heat, but the rest of which is used to drive the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This molecule acts as a way ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Strongyloides Stercoralis
''Strongyloides stercoralis'' is a human pathogenic parasitic roundworm causing the disease strongyloidiasis. Its common name in the US is threadworm. In the UK and Australia, however, the term ''threadworm'' can also refer to nematodes of the genus '' Enterobius'', otherwise known as pinworms. The ''Strongyloides stercoralis'' nematode can parasitize humans. The adult parasitic stage lives in tunnels in the mucosa of the small intestine. The genus '' Strongyloides'' contains 53 species, and ''S. stercoralis'' is the type species. ''S. stercoralis'' has been reported in other mammals, including cats and dogs. However, it seems that the species in dogs is typically not ''S. stercoralis'', but the related species ''S. canis''. Non-human primates are more commonly infected with ''S. fuelleborni'' and ''S. cebus'', although ''S. stercoralis'' has been reported in captive primates. Other species of ''Strongyloides'' that are naturally parasitic in humans, but with restricted dis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Imidazoles
Imidazole (ImH) is an organic compound with the formula . It is a white or colourless solid that is soluble in water, producing a mildly alkaline solution. It can be classified as a heterocycle, specifically as a diazole. Many natural products, especially alkaloids, contain the imidazole ring. These imidazoles share the 1,3-C3N2 ring but feature varied substituents. This ring system is present in important biological building blocks, such as histidine and the related hormone histamine. Many drugs contain an imidazole ring, such as certain antifungal drugs, the nitroimidazole series of antibiotics, and the sedative midazolam. When fused to a pyrimidine ring, it forms a purine, which is the most widely occurring nitrogen-containing heterocycle in nature. The name "imidazole" was coined in 1887 by the German chemist Arthur Rudolf Hantzsch (1857–1935). Structure and properties Imidazole is a planar 5-membered ring, that exists in two equivalent tautomeric forms because hydro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Inborn Error Of Metabolism
Inborn errors of metabolism form a large class of genetic diseases involving congenital disorders of enzyme activities. The majority are due to defects of single genes that code for enzymes that facilitate conversion of various substances (substrate (biochemistry), substrates) into others (Product (chemistry), products). In most of the disorders, problems arise due to accumulation of substances which are toxic or interfere with normal function, or due to the effects of reduced ability to synthesize essential compounds. Inborn errors of metabolism are often referred to as congenital metabolic diseases or inherited metabolic disorders. Another term used to describe these disorders is "enzymopathies". This term was created following the study of Biochemical Processes, biodynamic enzymology, a science based on the study of the enzymes and their products. Finally, ''inborn errors of metabolism'' were studied for the first time by British physician Archibald Garrod (1857–1936), in 1908. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Histidinemia
Histidinemia is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme histidase. Histidase is needed for the metabolism of the amino acid histidine. Although originally thought to be linked to multiple developmental disorders histidinemia is now accepted as a relatively benign disorder, leading to a reduction in the prevalence of neonatal screening procedures. Presentation Histidinemia is considered benign as most patients remain asymptomatic, early correlational evidence from the first decade of histidinemia research lead to the theory that histidinemia was associated with multiple developmental symptoms including hyperactivity, speech impediment, developmental delay, learning difficulties, and sometimes mental retardation. However, these claims were later deemed coincidental as a large subpopulation of infants that tested positive for histidinemia were found to have normal IQ and speech characteristics; as such histidinemia has since been rec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Max Jaffé
The Jaffe reaction is a colorimetric method used in clinical chemistry to determine creatinine levels in blood and urine. In 1886, Max Jaffe (1841–1911) wrote about its basic principles in the paper ''Über den Niederschlag, welchen Pikrinsäure in normalem Harn erzeugt und über eine neue Reaction des Kreatinins'' in which he described the properties of creatinine and picric acid in an alkaline solution. The color change that occurred was directly proportional to the concentration of creatinine, however he also noted that several other organic compounds induced similar reactions. In the early 20th century, Otto Folin adapted Jaffe's research into a clinical procedure. The Jaffe reaction, despite its nonspecificity for creatinine, is still widely employed as the method of choice for creatinine testing due to its speed, adaptability in automated analysis, and cost-effectiveness, and is the oldest methodology continued to be used in the medical laboratory. It is this nonspecific ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sunscreen
Sunscreen, also known as sunblock, sun lotion or sun cream, is a photoprotection, photoprotective topical product for the Human skin, skin that helps protect against sunburn and prevent skin cancer. Sunscreens come as lotions, sprays, gels, foams (such as an expanded foam lotion or whipped lotion), sticks, powders and other topical products. Sunscreens are common supplements to clothing, particularly sunglasses, sunhats and special sun protective clothing, and other forms of photoprotection (such as umbrellas). Sunscreens may be classified according to the type of #Active_ingredients, active ingredient(s) present in the formulation (inorganic compounds or organic compound, organic molecules) as: * Mineral sunscreens (also referred to as physical), which use only inorganic compounds (zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide) as active ingredients. These ingredients primarily work by absorbing UV rays but also through reflection and refraction. * Chemical sunscreens, which use organic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Regulatory T Cells
The regulatory T cells (Tregs or Treg cells), formerly known as suppressor T cells, are a subpopulation of T cells that modulate the immune system, maintain immune tolerance, tolerance to self-antigens, and prevent autoimmune disease. Treg cells are immunosuppression, immunosuppressive and generally suppress or downregulation and upregulation, downregulate induction and proliferation of effector T cells. Treg cells express the biomarkers CD4, FOXP3, and CD25 and are thought to be derived from the same cell lineage, lineage as naïve T helper cell, CD4+ cells. Because effector T cells also express CD4 and CD25, Treg cells are very difficult to effectively discern from effector CD4+, making them difficult to study. Research has found that the cytokine Transforming growth factor beta, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is essential for Treg cells to differentiate from naïve CD4+ cells and is important in maintaining Treg cell homeostas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stratum Corneum
The stratum corneum (Latin language, Latin for 'horny layer') is the outermost layer of the epidermis (skin), epidermis. Consisting of dead tissue, it protects underlying tissue from infection, dehydration, chemicals and mechanical stress. It is composed of 15–20 layers of flattened cells with no nuclei and cell organelles. Among its properties are mechanical shear, impact resistance, water flux and hydration regulation, microbial proliferation and invasion regulation, initiation of inflammation through cytokine activation and dendritic cell activity, and selective permeability to exclude toxins, irritants, and allergens. The cytoplasm of its cells shows filamentous keratin. These corneocytes are embedded in a lipid matrix composed of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids. Desquamation is the process of cell shedding from the surface of the stratum corneum, balancing proliferating keratinocytes that form in the stratum basale. These cells migrate through the epidermis tow ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Filaggrin
Filaggrin (filament aggregating protein) is a filament-associated protein that binds to keratin fibers in epithelial cells. Ten to twelve filaggrin units are post-translationally hydrolyzed from a large profilaggrin precursor protein during terminal differentiation of epidermal cells. In humans, profilaggrin is encoded by the ''FLG'' gene, which is part of the S100 fused-type protein (SFTP) family within the epidermal differentiation complex on chromosome 1q21. In cetaceans and sirenians, the ''FLG'' family has lost its function, with the curious exception of manatees in the latter clade: manatees still retain some functional ''FLG'' genes. Profilaggrin Filaggrin monomers are tandemly clustered into a large, 350kDa protein precursor known as profilaggrin. In the epidermis, these structures are present in the keratohyalin granules in cells of the stratum granulosum. Profilaggrin undergoes proteolytic processing to yield individual filaggrin monomers at the transition between the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Histidine
Histidine (symbol His or H) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an Amine, α-amino group (which is in the protonated –NH3+ form under Physiological condition, biological conditions), a carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated –COO− form under biological conditions), and an imidazole side chain (which is partially protonated), classifying it as a positively charged amino acid at physiological pH. Initially thought essential amino acid, essential only for infants, it has now been shown in longer-term studies to be essential for adults also. It is Genetic code, encoded by the Genetic code, codons CAU and CAC. Histidine was first isolated by Albrecht Kossel and Sven Gustaf Hedin in 1896. The name stems from its discovery in tissue, from ''histós'' "tissue". It is also a Precursor (chemistry), precursor to histamine, a vital inflammatory agent in immune responses. The acyl radical (chemistry), radical is histidyl. Pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |