Laforin
Laforin, encoded by the ''EPM2A'' gene, is a phosphatase, with a carbohydrate-binding module, carbohydrate-binding domain, which is mutated in patients with Lafora disease. It contains a dual specificity phosphatase domain (DSP) and a carbohydrate-binding module, carbohydrate binding module subtype 20 (CBM20). Its physiological Substrate (biochemistry), substrate has yet to be identified and the molecular mechanisms in which mutated laforin causes Lafora disease is unknown, though there has been progress made in the study by Ortolano et al. Laforin regulates autophagy via Mammalian target of rapamycin, which is impaired in Lafora disease. References External links GeneReviews/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Progressive Myoclonus Epilepsy, Lafora Type {{gene-6-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lafora Disease
Lafora disease is a rare, adult-onset and autosomal recessive genetic disorder which results in Myoclonus#Epilepsy forms, myoclonus epilepsy and usually results in death several years after the onset of symptoms. The disease is characterized by the accumulation of inclusion bodies, known as Lafora bodies, within the cytoplasm of the Cell (biology), cells in the heart, liver, muscle, and skin. Lafora disease is also a neurodegenerative disease that causes impairment in the development of brain (cerebral) cortical neurons and is a glycogen metabolism disorder. Lafora disease (LD) was described by the Spanish Neuropathologist Gonzalo RodrÃguez Lafora (1886-1971) in 1911, while directing the Neuropathology Section at the Government Hospital for Mental Insane (current National Institutes of Health, NIH, USA) Lafora is a rare disease, meaning it is very rare in children, adolescents and adults worldwide. However, Lafora disease has a higher incidence among children and adolescents wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity and 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 noncoding genes. During gene expression, the DNA is first copied into RNA. The RNA can be directly functional or be the intermediate template for a protein that performs a function. The transmission of genes to an organism's offspring is the basis of the inheritance of phenotypic traits. These genes make up different DNA sequences called genotypes. Genotypes along with environmental and developmental factors determine what the phenotypes will be. Most biological traits are under the influence of polygenes (many different genes) as well as gen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Phosphatase
In biochemistry, a phosphatase is an enzyme that uses water to cleave a phosphoric acid Ester, monoester into a phosphate ion and an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol. Because a phosphatase enzyme catalysis, catalyzes the hydrolysis of its Substrate (chemistry), substrate, it is a subcategory of hydrolases. Phosphatase enzymes are essential to many biological functions, because phosphorylation (e.g. by protein kinases) and dephosphorylation (by phosphatases) serve diverse roles in cell growth, cellular regulation and cell signaling, signaling. Whereas phosphatases remove phosphate groups from molecules, kinases catalyze the transfer of phosphate groups to molecules from Adenosine triphosphate, ATP. Together, kinases and phosphatases direct a form of post-translational modification that is essential to the cell's regulatory network. Phosphatase enzymes are not to be confused with phosphorylase enzymes, which catalyze the transfer of a phosphate group from hydrogen phosphate to an acce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carbohydrate-binding Module
In molecular biology, a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) is a protein domain found in carbohydrate-active enzymes (for example glycoside hydrolases). The majority of these domains have carbohydrate-binding activity. Some of these domains are found on cellulosome, cellulosomal scaffoldin proteins. CBMs were previously known as cellulose-binding domains. CBMs are classified into numerous families, based on amino acid sequence similarity. There are currently (June 2011) 64 families of CBM in the CAZy database. CBMs of microbe, microbial glycoside hydrolases play a central role in the recycling of Photosynthesis, photosynthetically fixed carbon through their Binding (molecular), binding to specific plant structural polysaccharides. CBMs can recognise both crystalline and amorphous cellulose forms. CBMs are the most common non-catalytic modules associated with enzymes active in plant cell-wall hydrolysis. Many putative CBMs have been identified by amino acid sequence ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Substrate (biochemistry)
In chemistry, the term substrate is highly context-dependent. Broadly speaking, it can refer either to a chemical species being observed in a chemical reaction, or to a surface on which other chemical reactions or microscopy are performed. In the former sense, a reagent is added to the ''substrate'' to generate a product through a chemical reaction. The term is used in a similar sense in synthetic and organic chemistry, where the substrate is the chemical of interest that is being modified. In biochemistry, an enzyme substrate is the material upon which an enzyme acts. When referring to Le Chatelier's principle, the substrate is the reagent whose concentration is changed. ;Spontaneous reaction : :*Where S is substrate and P is product. ;Catalysed reaction : :*Where S is substrate, P is product and C is catalyst. In the latter sense, it may refer to a surface on which other chemical reactions are performed or play a supporting role in a variety of spectroscopic and microscop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |