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SUCLA2
Succinyl-CoA ligase DP-formingsubunit beta, mitochondrial (SUCLA2), also known as ADP-forming succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS-A), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''SUCLA2'' gene on chromosome 13. Succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS) is a mitochondrial matrix enzyme that acts as a heterodimer, composed of an invariant alpha subunit and a substrate-specific beta subunit. The protein encoded by this gene is an ATP-specific SCS beta subunit that dimerizes with the SCS alpha subunit to form SCS-A, an essential component of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. SCS-A hydrolyzes ATP to convert succinyl-CoA to succinate. Defects in this gene are a cause of myopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. A pseudogene of this gene has been found on chromosome 6. rovided by RefSeq, Jul 2008ref name="entrez"/> Structure SCS, also known as succinyl CoA ligase (SUCL), is a heterodimer composed of a catalytic α subunit encoded by the '' SUCLG1'' gene and a β subunit encoded by either the ...
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SUCLG2
Succinyl-CoA ligase DP-formingsubunit beta, mitochondrial is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''SUCLG2'' gene on chromosome 3. This gene encodes a GTP-specific beta subunit of succinyl-CoA synthetase. Succinyl-CoA synthetase catalyzes the reversible reaction involving the formation of succinyl-CoA and succinate. Alternate splicing results in multiple transcript variants. Pseudogenes of this gene are found on chromosomes 5 and 12. rovided by RefSeq, Apr 2010ref name="entrez"/> Structure SCS, also known as succinyl CoA ligase (SUCL), is a heterodimer composed of a catalytic α subunit encoded by the '' SUCLG1'' gene and a β subunit encoded by either the '' SUCLA2'' gene or the ''SUCLG2'' gene, which determines the enzyme specificity for either ADP or GDP. SUCLG2 is the SCS variant containing the ''SUCLG2''-encoded β subunit. Amino acid sequence alignment of the two β subunit types reveals a homology of ~50% identity, with specific regions conserved throughout the ...
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Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome
Mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDS or MDDS), or Alper's disease, is any of a group of autosomal recessive disorders that cause a significant drop in mitochondrial DNA in affected tissues. Symptoms can be any combination of myopathic, hepatopathic, or encephalomyopathic. These syndromes affect tissue in the muscle, liver, or both the muscle and brain, respectively. The condition is typically fatal in infancy and early childhood, though some have survived to their teenage years with the myopathic variant and some have survived into adulthood with the SUCLA2 encephalomyopathic variant. There is currently no curative treatment for any form of MDDS, though some preliminary treatments have shown a reduction in symptoms. Signs and symptoms All forms of MDDS are very rare. MDDS causes a wide range of symptoms, which can appear in newborns, infants, children, or adults, depending on the class of MDDS; within each class symptoms are also diverse. In MDDS associated with mutations ...
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SUCLG1
Succinyl-CoA ligase DP-formingsubunit alpha, mitochondrial is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''SUCLG1'' gene. Structure The enzyme encoded by SUCLG1 can exist in either a phosphorylated form or a dephosphorylated form. In the dephosphorylated structure, a phosphate ion works in coordination with a histidine residue in the active site and the two alpha helices, one contributed by each subunit of the alphabeta-dimer to stabilize the structure. One of the alpha helices contains amino acids, the modification of which result in conformational changes that accommodate either the bound phosphoryl group or the free phosphate ion. Function This gene encodes the alpha subunit of the heterodimeric enzyme succinate coenzyme A ligase. This enzyme is targeted to the mitochondria and catalyzes the conversion of succinyl CoA and ADP or GDP to succinate and ATP or GTP. Mutations in this gene are the cause of the metabolic disorder fatal infantile lactic acidosis and mitochondrial ...
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Substrate-level Phosphorylation
Substrate-level phosphorylation is a metabolism reaction that results in the production of ATP or GTP by the transfer of a phosphate group from a substrate directly to ADP or GDP. Transferring from a higher energy (whether phosphate group attached or not) into a lower energy product. This process uses some of the released chemical energy, the Gibbs free energy, to transfer a phosphoryl (PO3) group to ADP or GDP from another phosphorylated compound. Occurs in glycolysis and in the citric acid cycle. Unlike oxidative phosphorylation, oxidation and phosphorylation are not coupled in the process of substrate-level phosphorylation, and reactive intermediates are most often gained in the course of oxidation processes in catabolism. Most ATP is generated by oxidative phosphorylation in aerobic or anaerobic respiration while substrate-level phosphorylation provides a quicker, less efficient source of ATP, independent of external electron acceptors. This is the case in human erythro ...
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Exon
An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequence in RNA transcripts. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are covalently joined to one another as part of generating the mature RNA. Just as the entire set of genes for a species constitutes the genome, the entire set of exons constitutes the exome. History The term ''exon'' derives from the expressed region and was coined by American biochemist Walter Gilbert in 1978: "The notion of the cistron… must be replaced by that of a transcription unit containing regions which will be lost from the mature messengerwhich I suggest we call introns (for intragenic regions)alternating with regions which will be expressedexons." This definition was originally made for protein-coding transcripts that are spliced before being translated. ...
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Microglia
Microglia are a type of neuroglia (glial cell) located throughout the brain and spinal cord. Microglia account for about 7% of cells found within the brain. As the resident macrophage cells, they act as the first and main form of active immune defense in the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia (and other neuroglia including astrocytes) are distributed in large non-overlapping regions throughout the CNS. Microglia are key cells in overall brain maintenance—they are constantly scavenging the CNS for plaques, damaged or unnecessary neurons and synapses, and infectious agents. Since these processes must be efficient to prevent potentially fatal damage, microglia are extremely sensitive to even small pathological changes in the CNS. This sensitivity is achieved in part by the presence of unique potassium channels that respond to even small changes in extracellular potassium. Recent evidence shows that microglia are also key players in the sustainment of normal brain functions und ...
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Astrocyte
Astrocytes (from Ancient Greek , , "star" + , , "cavity", "cell"), also known collectively as astroglia, are characteristic star-shaped glial cells in the brain and spinal cord. They perform many functions, including biochemical control of endothelial cells that form the blood–brain barrier, provision of nutrients to the nervous tissue, maintenance of extracellular ion balance, regulation of cerebral blood flow, and a role in the repair and scarring process of the brain and spinal cord following infection and traumatic injuries. The proportion of astrocytes in the brain is not well defined; depending on the counting technique used, studies have found that the astrocyte proportion varies by region and ranges from 20% to 40% of all glia. Another study reports that astrocytes are the most numerous cell type in the brain. Astrocytes are the major source of cholesterol in the central nervous system. Apolipoprotein E transports cholesterol from astrocytes to neurons and other glial ...
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Neuron
A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. Non-animals like plants and fungi do not have nerve cells. Neurons are typically classified into three types based on their function. Sensory neurons respond to stimuli such as touch, sound, or light that affect the cells of the sensory organs, and they send signals to the spinal cord or brain. Motor neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord to control everything from muscle contractions to glandular output. Interneurons connect neurons to other neurons within the same region of the brain or spinal cord. When multiple neurons are connected together, they form what is called a neural circuit. A typical neuron consists of a cell body (soma), dendrites, and a single axon. The soma is a compact structure, and the axon and dend ...
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Skeletal Muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscle tissue, and are often known as muscle fibers. The muscle tissue of a skeletal muscle is striated – having a striped appearance due to the arrangement of the sarcomeres. Skeletal muscles are voluntary muscles under the control of the somatic nervous system. The other types of muscle are cardiac muscle which is also striated and smooth muscle which is non-striated; both of these types of muscle tissue are classified as involuntary, or, under the control of the autonomic nervous system. A skeletal muscle contains multiple muscle fascicle, fascicles – bundles of muscle fibers. Each individual fiber, and each muscle is surrounded by a type of connective tissue layer of fascia. Muscle fibers are formed from the cell fusion, fusion of ...
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Brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a vertebrate's body. In a human, the cerebral cortex contains approximately 14–16 billion neurons, and the estimated number of neurons in the cerebellum is 55–70 billion. Each neuron is connected by synapses to several thousand other neurons. These neurons typically communicate with one another by means of long fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action potentials to distant parts of the brain or body targeting specific recipient cells. Physiologically, brains exert centralized control over a body's other organs. They act on the rest of the body both by generating patterns of muscle activity and by driving the secretion of chemicals called hormones. This centralized control allows rapid and coordinated respon ...
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Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to the lungs. In humans, the heart is approximately the size of a closed fist and is located between the lungs, in the middle compartment of the chest. In humans, other mammals, and birds, the heart is divided into four chambers: upper left and right atria and lower left and right ventricles. Commonly the right atrium and ventricle are referred together as the right heart and their left counterparts as the left heart. Fish, in contrast, have two chambers, an atrium and a ventricle, while most reptiles have three chambers. In a healthy heart blood flows one way through the heart due to heart valves, which prevent backflow. The heart is enclosed in a protective sac, the pericardium, which also contains a small amount of fluid. The wall ...
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Heme
Heme, or haem (pronounced / hi:m/ ), is a precursor to hemoglobin, which is necessary to bind oxygen in the bloodstream. Heme is biosynthesized in both the bone marrow and the liver. In biochemical terms, heme is a coordination complex "consisting of an iron ion coordinated to a porphyrin acting as a tetradentate ligand, and to one or two axial ligands." The definition is loose, and many depictions omit the axial ligands. Among the metalloporphyrins deployed by metalloproteins as prosthetic groups, heme is one of the most widely used and defines a family of proteins known as hemoproteins. Hemes are most commonly recognized as components of hemoglobin, the red pigment in blood, but are also found in a number of other biologically important hemoproteins such as myoglobin, cytochromes, catalases, heme peroxidase, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase. The word ''haem'' is derived from Greek ''haima'' meaning "blood". Function Hemoproteins have diverse biological functions incl ...
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