Iubmb Life 

About: Iubmb Life is an academic journal published by International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Gene & Signal transduction. It has an ISSN identifier of 1521-6543. Over the lifetime, 5308 publications have been published receiving 139363 citations. The journal is also known as: International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology life & Life.

Mitochondrial DNA mutations in human disease.

Abstract: Since their first association with human disease in 1988, more than 250 pathogenic point mutations and rearrangements of the 16.6 kb mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) have been reported in a spectrum of clinical disorders which exhibit prominent muscle and central nervous system involvement. With novel mutations and disease phenotypes still being described, mtDNA disorders are recognized collectively as common, inherited genetic diseases although relatively little is still known concerning the precise pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to cell dysfunction and pathology. This review considers the basic principles of mitochondrial genetics which govern both the behaviour and investigation of pathogenic mtDNA mutations summarizing recent advances in this area, and an assessment of the ongoing debate into the role of somatic mtDNA mutations in neurodegenerative disease, ageing and cancer.

The extraordinary ligand binding properties of human serum albumin

Abstract: Human serum albumin (HSA), the most prominent protein in plasma, binds different classes of ligands at multiple sites HSA provides a depot for many compounds, affects pharmacokinetics of many drugs, holds some ligands in a strained orientation providing their metabolic modification, renders potential toxins harmless transporting them to disposal sites, accounts for most of the antioxidant capacity of human serum, and acts as a NO-carrier The globular domain structural organization of monomeric HSA is at the root of its allosteric properties which are reminiscent of those of multimeric proteins Here, structural, functional, biotechnological, and biomedical aspects of ligand binding to HSA are summarized

Oxidative stress, antioxidant defenses, and damage removal, repair, and replacement systems.

Abstract: Oxidative stress is an unavoidable consequence of life in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Oxygen radicals and other activated oxygen species are generated as by-products of aerobic metabolism and exposure to various natural and synthetic toxicants. The "Oxygen Paradox" is that oxygen is dangerous to the very life-forms for which it has become an essential component of energy production. The first defense against oxygen toxicity is the sharp gradient of oxygen tension, seen in all mammals, from the environmental level of 20% to a tissue concentration of only 3-4% oxygen. These relatively low tissue levels of oxygen prevent most oxidative damage from ever occurring. Cells, tissues, organs, and organisms utilize multiple layers of antioxidant defenses and damage removal, and replacement or repair systems in order to cope with the remaining stress and damage that oxygen engenders. The enzymes comprising many of these protective systems are inducible under conditions of oxidative stress adaptation, in which the expression of over 40 mammalian genes is upregulated. Mitotic cells have the additional defensive ability of entering a transient growth-arrested state (in the first stages of adaptation) in which DNA is protected by histone proteins, energy is conserved by diminished expression of nonessential genes, and the expression of shock and stress proteins is greatly increased. Failure to fully cope with an oxidative stress can switch mitotic cells into a permanent growth-arrested, senescence-like state in which they may survive for long periods. Faced with even more severe oxidative stress, or the declining protective enzymes and adaptive capacity associated with aging, cells may "sacrifice themselves" by apoptosis, which protects surrounding healthy tissue from further damage. Only under the most severe oxidative stress conditions will cells undergo a necrotic death, which exposes surrounding tissues to the further vicissitudes of an inflammatory immune response. This remarkable array of systems for defense; damage removal, replacement, and repair; adaptation; growth modulation; and apoptosis make it possible for us to enjoy life in an oxygen-rich environment.

Identification of melatonin in plants and its effects on plasma melatonin levels and binding to melatonin receptors in vertebrates.

Abstract: Twenty-four edible plants were investigated for the presence of melatonin, heretofore considered to be a molecule found only in the animal kingdom. The amount of melatonin in different plants varied greatly with highest melatonin being present in plants of the rice family. Melatonin was identified by radioimmunoassay and verified by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Feeding a diet containing plant products rich in melatonin to chicks increased radioimmunoassayable levels of melatonin in their blood. Likewise, melatonin extracted from plants inhibited binding of [125I]iodomelatonin to rabbit brain. Thus, melatonin ingested in foodstuffs enters the blood and is capable of binding to melatonin binding sites in the brain of mammals.

The Kennedy pathway—De novo synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine

Abstract: The glycerophospholipids phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) account for greater than 50% of the total phospholipid species in eukaryotic membranes and thus play major roles in the structure and function of those membranes. In most eukaryotic cells, PC and PE are synthesized by an aminoalcoholphosphotransferase reaction, which uses sn-1,2-diradylglycerol and either CDP-choline or CDP-ethanolamine, respectively. This is the last step in a biosynthetic pathway known as the Kennedy pathway, so named after Eugene Kennedy who elucidated it over 50 years ago. This review will cover various aspects of the Kennedy pathway including: each of the biosynthetic steps, the functions and roles of the phospholipid products PC and PE, and how the Kennedy pathway has the potential of being a chemotherapeutic target against cancer and various infectious diseases.