US approves gene therapy treatment for hemophilia
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has received US approval for a gene therapy against a form of hemophilia, a rare and inherited blood clotting disorder, the company said Friday.
12 hours ago
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Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has received US approval for a gene therapy against a form of hemophilia, a rare and inherited blood clotting disorder, the company said Friday.
12 hours ago
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"Childhood" and "dementia" are two words we wish we didn't have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 Australian children and young people live with currently untreatable childhood dementia.
14 hours ago
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Scientists have found a potential treatment strategy for an aggressive type of leukemia by targeting enzymes used by cells to sense and adapt to oxygen levels.
Apr 18, 2024
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A key mechanism controlling how bone marrow stem cells work has been revealed in a new study, shining a light on the principles of stem cell biology and opening the door to new therapeutic pathways.
Apr 4, 2024
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Patients with lung disease are more likely to develop heart disease independent of any risk factors, according to new research.
Mar 22, 2024
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A cross-disciplinary University of Waterloo team has developed a new contact lens material that could act as a bandage for corneal wounds while releasing drugs in a controlled manner to help the eye heal faster. A study outlining ...
Mar 21, 2024
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A research team led by the University of California, Irvine has discovered the key role that the APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B enzymes play in driving cancer mutations by modifying the DNA in tumor genomes, offering potential new ...
Mar 19, 2024
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T cells are often called "assassins" or "killers" because they can orchestrate and carry out missions to hunt down bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells throughout the body. Mighty as they may be, recent research has shown ...
Mar 15, 2024
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Harnessing a pervasive type of cellular messenger shows early experimental promise as a routine way of sampling and monitoring the body's response to prescription drug exposure.
Mar 5, 2024
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Blocking the formation of filaments—multi-enzyme structures that fuel cancer activity—may offer new ways to control cancer cell proliferation, according to a new study led by Cornell researchers.
Mar 5, 2024
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Enzymes are biomolecules that catalyze (i.e., increase the rates of) chemical reactions. Nearly all known enzymes are proteins. However, certain RNA molecules can be effective biocatalysts too. These RNA molecules have come to be known as ribozymes. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell.
Like all catalysts, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy (Ea or ΔG‡) for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the rate of the reaction. Most enzyme reaction rates are millions of times faster than those of comparable un-catalyzed reactions. As with all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed by the reactions they catalyze, nor do they alter the equilibrium of these reactions. However, enzymes do differ from most other catalysts by being much more specific. Enzymes are known to catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions. A few RNA molecules called ribozymes catalyze reactions, with an important example being some parts of the ribosome. Synthetic molecules called artificial enzymes also display enzyme-like catalysis.
Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules. Inhibitors are molecules that decrease enzyme activity; activators are molecules that increase activity. Many drugs and poisons are enzyme inhibitors. Activity is also affected by temperature, chemical environment (e.g., pH), and the concentration of substrate. Some enzymes are used commercially, for example, in the synthesis of antibiotics. In addition, some household products use enzymes to speed up biochemical reactions (e.g., enzymes in biological washing powders break down protein or fat stains on clothes; enzymes in meat tenderizers break down proteins, making the meat easier to chew).
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA