News tagged with cell metabolism
Insight into the dazzling impact of insulin in cells
Australian scientists have charted the path of insulin action in cells in precise detail like never before. This provides a comprehensive blueprint for understanding what goes wrong in diabetes.
Medical research
May 21, 2013 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
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Hundreds of alterations and potential drug targets to starve cancer tumors identified
A massive study analyzing gene expression data from 22 tumor types has identified multiple metabolic expression changes associated with cancer. The analysis, conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, ...
Cancer
Apr 21, 2013 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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New technology measures oxygen in individual red blood cells in real time
In an engineering breakthrough, a Washington University in St. Louis biomedical researcher has discovered a way to use light and color to measure oxygen in individual red blood cells in real time.
Medical research
Mar 25, 2013 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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Cancer suppressor gene links metabolism with cellular aging
The tumor suppressor protein p53 is an attractive target for drug developers. But this path has so far proven difficult, as most p53 regulatory proteins operate via protein-protein interactions, which make for poor drug targets, ...
Cancer
Jan 13, 2013 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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Researchers identify new target for common heart condition
Researchers have found new evidence that metabolic stress can increase the onset of atrial arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. ...
Cardiology
Jan 08, 2013 |
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Study finds important factor in fat storage and energy metabolism
As part of their ongoing research on the physiologic factors that contribute to the development of obesity, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists have identified a cell cycle transcriptional co-regulator – ...
Medical research
Jan 06, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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New study shows that even your fat cells need sleep
In a study that challenges the long-held notion that the primary function of sleep is to give rest to the brain, researchers have found that not getting enough shut-eye has a harmful impact on fat cells, reducing by 30 percent ...
Medical research
Oct 15, 2012 |
5 / 5 (7) |
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Scientists identify molecular process in fat cells that influences stress and longevity
As part of their ongoing research investigating the biology of aging, the greatest risk factor for type 2 diabetes and other serious diseases, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a new factor—microRNA ...
Medical research
Sep 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Single gene cause of insulin sensitivity may offer insight for treating diabetes
(Medical Xpress)—The first single gene cause of increased sensitivity to the hormone insulin has been discovered by a team of Oxford University researchers.
Diabetes
Sep 12, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Treatment target for diabetes, Wolfram syndrome
Inflammation and cell stress play important roles in the death of insulin-secreting cells and are major factors in diabetes. Cell stress also plays a role in Wolfram syndrome, a rare, genetic disorder that ...
Inflammatory disorders
Aug 07, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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Neurons derived from cord blood cells may represent new therapeutic option
For more than 20 years, doctors have been using cells from blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after childbirth to treat a variety of illnesses, from cancer and immune disorders to blood ...
Medical research
Jul 16, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Scientists link 'oncometabolite' to onset of acute myeloid leukemia
A team of international scientists led by principal investigator Dr. Tak Mak at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, has identified a causative link between the product of a mutated metabolic enzyme ...
Cancer
Jul 04, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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When you eat matters: Study offers drug-free intervention to prevent obesity, diabetes
It turns out that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override ...
Medical research
May 17, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (17) |
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Study finds molecular switch that controls liver glucose production, may offer target for type II diabetes therapy
In their extraordinary quest to decode human metabolism, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered a pair of molecules that regulates the liver's production of glucose -- the ...
Medical research
Apr 08, 2012 |
3 / 5 (2) |
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Protective gene in fat cells may lead to therapeutic for Type 2 diabetes
In a finding that may challenge popular notions of body fat and health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes. The results may lead to a ...
Medical research
Apr 01, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories. Catabolism breaks down organic matter, for example to harvest energy in cellular respiration. Anabolism, on the other hand, uses energy to construct components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids.
The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed into another by a sequence of enzymes. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable but thermodynamically unfavorable reactions by coupling them to favorable ones, and because they act as catalysts to allow these reactions to proceed quickly and efficiently. Enzymes also allow the regulation of metabolic pathways in response to changes in the cell's environment or signals from other cells.
The metabolism of an organism determines which substances it will find nutritious and which it will find poisonous. For example, some prokaryotes use hydrogen sulfide as a nutrient, yet this gas is poisonous to animals. The speed of metabolism, the metabolic rate, also influences how much food an organism will require.
A striking feature of metabolism is the similarity of the basic metabolic pathways between even vastly different species. For example, the set of carboxylic acids that are best known as the intermediates in the citric acid cycle are present in all organisms, being found in species as diverse as the unicellular bacteria Escherichia coli and huge multicellular organisms like elephants. These striking similarities in metabolism are most likely the result of the high efficiency of these pathways, and of their early appearance in evolutionary history.
For more information about Metabolism, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
