Dictionary

                                              Vocabulary

• Gap Junctions: A connection that is made between the cytoplasm of two cells. 

 Gap junctions allow ions and molecules to pass through from cell to cell.

• Tight Junctions: When the membrane of two proteins are connected.

Tight junctions limit the passage of certain ions that want to pass through.

• Desmosomes: Localized patches that hold two cells together.

Desmosomes are attached to intermediate filaments.

Works Cited:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Gap_cell_junction-en.svg/2000px-Gap_cell_junction-en.svg.png

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2742079/

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/J/Junctions.html

http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/problem_sets/membranes/graphics/desmosomes.gif

Encounter

           

                              Is it hot in here or is it just me?


                       Another encounter I had with the show The Doctors, involved a lady who was would always sweat. She would not even exercise but she would start sweating excessively. When she was on the show, she took a shower before coming and she was already sweating. The doctors on the show referred her to a specialist who thought it was best to inject her sweat glands under her armpits with a form of botox. This enabled her to not sweat as frequently. She would have to get the injections every six months but she was okay with that. I wanted to do more research on this and it led me to a condition called Hyperhidrosis. This is when your body is excessively using its cooling mechanism and you sweat without even doing any work. The cause of this can almost be anything. It can be due to the type of medications you take or if you have a certain type of syndrome. It can also be caused due to infections. It looks like the only way to treat this is based on the symptoms of sweating. Unless they find the actual cause of the sweating, you will be treated for just the sweating part of it.

 Works Cited:

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007259.htm

Keloid (Encounter)

                                                                          Keloid

                I was watching TV one evening when something strange caught my eye. I was flipping through channels to watch and there was one show that seemed particularly interesting to me. It was called "The Doctors". In this, many people come with various problems and we get to see what these people are going through and what is exactly wrong with them. There was one man that had Keloid. This was unfamiliar to me so I started researching it. Keloid is when an area of your body forms an overgrowth of scar tissue. You are able to get this when you have any type of scars that are healing on your body. It can vary from acne scars all the way to chickenpox scars. Treatment for this isn't going to be as serious because you only need it when it's really bad. You can be given various things from corticosteroid injections to laser treatments. This may not seem terrible the way it sounds but when you look at people who have the worst case scenario part, you can see how challenging it can be to live with this. Just like anything in life, it only takes one thing to turn your life around and keloid can be one of them.

Works Cited Page

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000849.htm

http://bmcdermatol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-5945-9-8

Dictionary

                                                         
                                                                Vocabulary

• Neurotransmitters: A substance that is released at the end of nerve fiber due to an action potential that is triggered. This causes the impulse to go from one nerve to another nerve.

         Norepinephrine is a type of neurotransmitter that is released in the brain.

• Phytohormones: Plant hormones that regulates their growth. 

      Phytohormones occur in plants when there are extremely low concentrations. 

• Actin: A protein that is found in eukaryotic cells to help muscles contract along with myosin.

          There are two types of actin, F-actin and G-actin.

                               



                                                                     Work Cited:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10957/

http://www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Chemical-Structures-of-Neurotransmitters-2015.png

https://courses.stu.qmul.ac.uk/SMD/Kb/microanatomy/muscle_nerve/images/sarcfinl.jpg

Dictionary!

• Collagen: Is made of a triple helical alpha domain and has three different alpha domains. It is a triple helix of Gly-X-Y repeats. Collagen is usually found in connective tissue and the skin. This enables the flexibility of the skin. It can help tissues and skin withstand the pressure of pulling without breaking. Collagen is composed of amino acids which include oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. 

         Collagen has specific amino acids like glycine, proline, hydroxyproline and arginine.

• Laminins: They are heterotrimeric proteins that contain an alpha, beta, and a gamma chain. The proteins intersect to form a cross-like structure. This can bind to the cell membrane and the extracellular molecules. They can bind to cell membranes and contribute to the cell attachment and differentiation. This enables the organs and tissues in body to be held together. 

          Laminins can bind to each other and to other proteins.

• Integrins: These are transmembrane receptors that are able to bridge together cells with other cells and cells with the extracellular matrix. What ligand in the extracellular matrix the integrin can bind to is usually based on the alpha and beta subunits. They can trigger chemical pathways as well. They are obligate heterodimers that have alpha and beta subunits. They also help define cell shape, mobility, and help in the regulation of the cell cycle. The cell’s will be unable to move as it should and function normally. Cell will be unable to reach wherever it needs to go and therefore unable to perform normally.

          When integrins are unable to work properly, they disable the cell shape and structure to work   

                                                                         properly.                                                                     

                                                                 Works Cited Page:

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technical-documents/articles/biofiles/laminin.html

http://www.dermoaroma.com/collagen/

http://amdbook.org/content/figure-3-alpha-and-beta-subunits-integrins-are-transmembrane-proteins

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21582/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23057746

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26867/

Investigation (3)

                                                                       Cholera


                       During the last couple of class periods in my Cell and Molecular class, we have talked about various channels and pumps that are located on the lipid bilayer. It made me start to think about what might happen when something goes wrong with the membrane itself. I started to research about various malfunctions that can occur at the membrane. One that I came across was quite familiar to me but I did not fully understand the concept of what it does. Cholera is a disease that is caused by Vibrio cholerae. This bacteria produces a toxin that attaches to the cell membrane and activates cyclic AMP. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a type of chloride ion channel that pumps chloride ions out of cells. It is activated by the cyclic AMP. When there is a large amount of cyclic AMP, it triggers the channel to open and the channel stays open. This all occurs in the small intestines. Now, there is a lot of chloride ions in the lumen of the intestines. The sodium ions are attracted to them so they leave the cell as well. Now that there are many ions present in the lumen, the water leaves the cell through osmosis. The cells lose so much water that it causes an individual with this disease to feel dehydrated. The large amount of water in the lumen causes the individual to vomit or feel nauseous. This can be treated by oral rehydration solutions. This is just one type of disease that relates to cell but when we start to learn, we discover that there are many things we still do not know.




                                                                      Works Cited Page

http://bigpictureeducation.com/biology-behind-cholera