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kiss of life - April 2012

We all take Spring for granted. The moment the first bouts of warmth hit the air, we fully expect to see the lawn duly mottled with daisies, leaves pushing their way into the nascent season and flowers blossoming wherever we care to look. And quite rightly so. We all know it’s going to happen since it does every year. And we do realise that Nature needs to renew itself every once in a while. The process is – you could say – automatic. But it is only automatic because there are hordes of molecules that are able to recognise, in many different ways, the environmental cues – such as warmth and humidity for instance – and translate them into growth. An amazing state of affairs, if you give it a little thought. One such molecule, known as DELLA protein RGL2, has been the centre of attention amongst plant molecular biologists for some time now. Indeed, RGL2 is proving to be at the very heart of seed germination. (PDF version - 33K bytes)

UniProt cross references

DELLA protein RGL2, Arabidopsis thaliana, (Mouse-ear cress) : Q8GXW1

the ends of our fingers - March 2012

Fingertips are hugely sensitive. And, besides the fairly recent mobile phones that rely on them entirely, we put their sensitivity to use constantly. They are able to grasp subtle differences in temperature and texture – such as discern warm from tepid for example, or a dry surface from a greasy one. They are also able to touch or feel extremely delicately. In truth, the ends of our fingers are able to give a pretty clear picture of what is happening around us. This, of course, is thanks to nerve ends which reach the very tips of them. But scientists are now suggesting that our digital refinement may also be partly due to the epidermal ridges which cover them. In other words: our fingerprints. Fingerprint architecture is slowly being uncovered, thanks to diseases that have the power to wipe them away. One such disease – known as adermatoglyphia – is caused by a deficiency in a protein known as SMARCAD1. (PDF version - 230K bytes)

UniProt cross references

SWI/SNF-related matrix-associated actin-dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily A containing DEAD/H box 1, Homo sapiens, (Human) : Q9H4L7

get a grip - January 2012

Someone once told me that they had spread grease all over the drainpipe that crawled up the front of their house, to prevent cats from climbing up it. It’s a very simple and pretty harmless way of keeping the enemy away. It’s hardly surprising, then, that Nature thought up just the same trick millions of years ago. Many higher plants’ stems – and also sometimes their leaves – are covered with a whitish surface, which is slightly greasy to the touch. Botanists have known for a long time that wax in plants has many roles and that the powdery blooms on stems seem to be involved in keeping harmful insects away. The question is: how? But perhaps even just as important a question is: what makes the wax? Because if scientists are able to be on a more intimate level with what produces it, then they will be able to think up insect repellents that are more in keeping with Nature’s ways. Not so long ago, researchers discovered an enzyme which synthesises lupeol, the wax component which forms the greater part of the powdery bloom. (PDF version - 47K bytes)

UniProt cross references

Lupeol synthase, Ricinus communis, (Castor bean) : Q2XPU7

zips, necklaces and mobile telephones - December 2011

I would hate to leave the house without the odd necklace hanging round my neck. But I happen to be fortunate. Millions of other people are not. That is because a lot of jewellery contains the silvery-white metal known as nickel, which can cause disagreeable skin conditions. If nickel were confined to jewellery, things would not be so bad but it is also frequently found in zips, coins and mobile telephones for instance. And who, in our society, can easily dispense with any one of these items? 65 million people in Europe suffer from nickel allergy; that is a large part of the population. Nickel ions are able to creep off a necklace or a coin – following sweat or rubbing for example – and sink through the first layers of skin where they will trigger off an immune response resulting in dermatitis. But why does it happen in some people and not in others? The answer seems to reside in a very small region of a protein known as the toll-like receptor 4, or TLR4, which has been shown to be at the heart of nickel allergy. (PDF version - 336K bytes)

UniProt cross references

Toll-like receptor 4, Homo sapiens, (Human) : O00206

a missing sense - November 2011

We are reminded regularly of how fragile life is and how easily the subtle balance of our molecular make-up can be shifted and cause devastating effects. Deafness is one. Deafness can be brought about by a number of incidents. It can occur following an illness or an accident for example. Or it can be congenital. Pendred Syndrome afflicts one out of two thousand human beings and is characterised not only by deafness in both ears but also – though not always – by a swelling in the thyroid gland, otherwise known as goitre. The symptoms of Pendred Syndrome have been known for over a century, but scientists are only just beginning to understand what it is that can leave a human-being deprived of a sense which is so vital. One of the culprits is known as Pendrin – a protein which acts as an ion transporter. (PDF version - 165K bytes)

UniProt cross references

Pendrin, Homo sapiens, (Human) : O43511