|
Maurocalcine
Maurocalcine (MCa) is a protein, 33 Amino acid residues in length, isolated from the venom of the scorpion '' Maurus palmatus'', which belongs to the family Chactidae, first characterized in 2000. The toxin is present in such small amounts that it could not be isolated to analyze it, so a chemical synthesis of this toxin was performed by the solid-phase technique so it could be fully characterized. It shares 82% sequence identity with imperatoxin A (IpTx A), a scorpion toxin from the venom of ''Pandinus imperator''. IpTx A acts by modifying the activity of the type 1 ryanodine receptor of skeletal muscle. RyR controls the intracellular Ca2+ permeability of various cell types and is central in the process of excitation–contraction of muscle tissues. The synthesized toxin, sMCa is active on RyR1 and it binds onto a site different from that of ryanodine itself. Structural components MCa folds folds into the inhibitor cystine knot An inhibitor cystine knot (aka ICK o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inhibitor Cystine Knot
An inhibitor cystine knot (aka ICK or Knottin) is a protein structural motif containing three disulfide bridges. Knottins are one of three folds in the cystine knot motif; the other closely related knots are the Growth Factor Cystine Knot (GFCK) and the Cyclic Cystine Knot (CCK; cyclotide). Types include a) cyclic mobius, b) cyclic bracelet, c) acyclic inhibitor knottins. Cystine knot motifs are found frequently in nature in a plethora of plants, animals, and fungi and serve diverse functions from appetite suppression to anti-fungal activity. Along with the sections of polypeptide between them, two disulfides form a loop through which the third disulfide bond (linking the 3rd and 6th cysteine in the sequence) passes, forming a knot. The motif is common in invertebrate toxins such as those from arachnids and molluscs. The motif is also found in some inhibitor proteins found in plants, but the plant and animal motifs are thought to be a product of convergent evolution. The ICK moti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, responding to stimuli, providing structure to cells and organisms, and transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in protein folding into a specific 3D structure that determines its activity. A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called peptides. The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds and adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acid residue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amino Acid Residues
Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers specifically polypeptides formed from sequences of amino acids, the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid monomer may also be called a ''residue'' indicating a repeating unit of a polymer. Proteins form by amino acids undergoing condensation reactions, in which the amino acids lose one water molecule per reaction in order to attach to one another with a peptide bond. By convention, a chain under 30 amino acids is often identified as a peptide, rather than a protein. To be able to perform their biological function, proteins fold into one or more specific spatial conformations driven by a number of non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, Van der Waals forces, and hydrophobic packing. To understand the functions of proteins at a molecular level, it is often necessary to determine their three-dimensional structure. This is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always ending with a stinger. The evolutionary history of scorpions goes back 435 million years. They mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are over 2,500 described species, with 22 extant (living) families recognized to date. Their taxonomy is being revised to account for 21st-century genomic studies. Scorpions primarily prey on insects and other invertebrates, but some species hunt vertebrates. They use their pincers to restrain and kill prey, or to prevent their own predation. The venomous sting is used for offense and defense. During courtship, the male and female grasp each other's pincers and dance while he tries to move her onto his s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurus Palmatus
Maurus is a Latin given name. It can refer to: Persons Saints * Saint Maurus of Parentium (3rd century), the first bishop of Parentium and the patron saint of Poreč * Saint Maurus (c. 500 - c. 584), the first disciple of St. Benedict of Nursia * Blessed Maurus Magnentius Rabanus (Hrabanus) (c. 776 (784?) - 856) * Saint Maurus of Pécs, the second bishop of Pécs, and abbey of Pannonhalma (c. 1000-c. 1075) Others * (c.1130 - 1214), medical writer and teacher * Mister Maurus, an archetypical school teacher developed by Anton Hansen Tammsaare * Sylvester Maurus (1619-1687), Italian Jesuit theologian * Kuber (Maurus the Kuber), brother to Tervel's father Asparukh and son of Kubrat Kaghan of Patria Onoguria * Maurus, religious name of secret agent monk Alexander Horn Other uses *The inhabitants of Mauretania, ancient kingdom and late Roman province * '' Maurus'', a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies See also *Mauro (other) * Maura (other) *Mauritius (given name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chactidae
The Chactidae are a family of scorpions established by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1893. They make up the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Chactoidea. Genera Chactidae contains the following genera: *''Anuroctonus'' Pocock, 1893 *''Auyantepuia'' (Gonzalez-Sponga, 1978) *''Broteochactas'' Pocock, 1893 *''Brotheas'' C.L. Koch, 1837 *''Chactas (scorpion), Chactas'' Gervais, 1844 *''Chactopsis'' Kraepelin, 1912 *''Chactopsoides'' Ochoa, Rojas-Runjaic, Pinto-Da-Rocha & Prendini, 2013 *''Guyanochactas'' Lourenco, 1998 *''Hadrurochactas'' Pocock, 1893 *''Megachactops'' Ochoa, Rojas-Runjaic, Pinto-Da-Rocha & Prendini, 2013 *''Neochactas'' Soleglad & Fet, 2003 *''Nullibrotheas'' Williams, 1974 *''Spinochactas'' Lourenço, 2016 *''Teuthraustes'' Simon, 1878 *''Uroctonus'' Thorell, 1876 *''Vachoniochactas'' Gonzalez-Sponga, 1978 References Scorpion families {{Scorpion-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryanodine Receptor
Ryanodine receptors (RyR for short) form a class of intracellular calcium channels in various forms of excitable animal tissue like muscles and neurons. There are three major isoforms of the ryanodine receptor, which are found in different tissues and participate in different signaling pathways involving calcium release from intracellular organelles. The RYR2 ryanodine receptor isoform is the major cellular mediator of calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) in animal cells. Etymology The ryanodine receptors are named after the plant alkaloid ryanodine which shows a high affinity to them. Isoforms There are multiple isoforms of ryanodine receptors: * RyR1 is primarily expressed in skeletal muscle * RyR2 is primarily expressed in myocardium (heart muscle) * RyR3 is expressed more widely, but especially in the brain. * Non-mammalian vertebrates typically express two RyR isoforms, referred to as RyR-alpha and RyR-beta. * Many invertebrates, including the model organisms Dros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MCa Anisotropy
MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th generation fighter aircraft in India's HAL AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) program * Macenta Airport, Guinea (by IATA code) Biology and chemistry * MacConkey agar, a selective growth medium for bacteria * Monochloroacetic acid, carboxylic acid, manufactured by chlorinating acetic acid * Methylcholanthrene, a carcinogen * Methyl cyanoacrylate, an organic compound * Metabolic control analysis, analysing how the control of fluxes and intermediate concentrations in a metabolic pathway is distributed * Middle cerebral artery, one of the three major blood supplies to the brain Climate * Medieval Climatic Anomaly (Medieval Warm Period, also Medieval Climate Optimum), a notably warm climatic period in the North Atlantic region from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proteins
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, responding to stimuli, providing structure to cells and organisms, and transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in protein folding into a specific 3D structure that determines its activity. A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called peptides. The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds and adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acid residues ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scorpion Toxins
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always ending with a stinger. The evolutionary history of scorpions goes back 435 million years. They mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are over 2,500 described species, with 22 extant (living) families recognized to date. Their taxonomy is being revised to account for 21st-century genomic studies. Scorpions primarily prey on insects and other invertebrates, but some species hunt vertebrates. They use their pincers to restrain and kill prey, or to prevent their own predation. The venomous sting is used for offense and defense. During courtship, the male and female grasp each other's pincers and dance while he tries to move her onto his sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Scorpion Toxins")