Accurate monitoring of gene expression is critical to determining those patterns of expression correlating with exposure to certain drugs or toxins. By elucidating these patterns, researchers may be a...
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Behavioral and physiological processes in nearly all organisms display 24-hour rhythms that are controlled by a circadian pacemaker, or clock. Over the past several years, many proteins and transcript...
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The SCN5A gene encodes a human cardiac sodium (Na+) channel alpha subunit that carries the inward Na+ current in the heart. Three distinct polymorphic SCN5A clones, hH1, hH1a and hH1b, have been isola...
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The gene mdm2 is a negative regulator of p53, which plays a key role in apoptosis and is important in chemotherapy. Mice with knockout mutations in mdm2 would be useful in studying this gene; however,...
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The human heart sodium channel beta1 subunit is a protein encoded by a single gene. It interacts with the alpha subunit to alter the functional properties of the channel.
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Biological membranes, such as cell membranes, are intrinsically impermeable to ions and polar molecules. Thus, transport of ions through biological membranes requires special channel or pump proteins ...
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The liver detoxifies many of the drugs and toxins in blood, which poses a problem in drug development and testing because drugs are rapidly cleared from the system. In the mammalian fetus, the liver i...
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The human ERG gene encodes a potassium channel that is expressed in the heart. Mutations in the HERG channel are a common cause of long QT syndrome, a disorder associated with delayed cardiac repolari...
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Cardiac IKr channels are targets associated with inherited and acquired long QT syndrome (LQTS), a disorder that can lead to ventricular arrhythmias. Previously, IKr channels were thought to be compos...
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The human heart sodium channel beta1 subunit (SCNB1) is a protein encoded by a single gene. It interacts with the alpha subunit to alter the functional properties of the channel. In addition, SCNB1 is...
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Most biochemical interactions are studied in solutions containing dilute concentrations of molecules. However, the complexity of the cellular environment makes it difficult to compare the results of s...
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No well-characterized prostate stromal cell lines currently exist.
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The human either-a-go-go related gene (HERG1 or KCNH2) potassium channel is critical to maintaining normal cardiac rhythm. Because unintended block of HERG channel activity by drugs can cause long QT ...
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As the incidence of antibiotic resistance among bacteria continues to rise, the discovery of new antibacterial compounds has become increasingly critical to fighting infectious disease. According to t...
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Influenza viruses show strong potential as vaccine and gene delivery vectors: they do not replicate through DNA intermediates (which may incorporate into the host genome); they elicit strong immune re...
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Influenza is a major disease in humans that can be prevented by vaccination. Because new epidemic strains arise every year or two, the conventional influenza vaccine must be adapted almost every year,...
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Re-polarization of the cardiac action potential, which plays a critical role in maintaining normal cardiac rhythm, occurs mainly due to the action of potassium ion (K+) currents in the heart. The most...
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Few treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, have been discovered.  In many cases, the molecular basis for neurodegeneration rem...
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, is responsible for eight million human infections and two million deaths worldwide each year. M. tuberculosis infections can be treated...
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Secondary metabolites display a broad range of activities, including antibiotic, immunosuppressant, phytotoxic and mycotoxic activities, yet they are formed from a relatively small number of metabolic...
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Current methods for isolating and culturing primary (stem/progenitor) cells remain unsatisfactory because most primary cells die when transferred to culture, and the remaining cells usually develop mu...
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One of the key potassium channels in the heart is formed by the co-assembly of protein products from the KvLQT1 (KCNQ1) and minK (KCNE1) genes, which produce the slowly activating delayed rectifier po...
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Microorganisms, such as fungi, produce a variety of secondary metabolites.  These secondary metabolites display a broad range of activities, including antibiotic, immunosuppressant, phytotoxic an...
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A cell membrane is made up of lipid bilayers that include ion channels for controlling the flow of ions into and out of the cell. Certain ion channels open in response to signaling molecules, includin...
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There is a lack of effective and non-destructive treatments for diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of blindness in the United States. Thrombospondin1 (TSP1), a matricellular protein that inhibits ang...
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