So! The study presented by Jorg Morland from Norway discusses how heroin works (mechanisms and pathways to the brain) and how addiction can be treated.
Morland and his group of researchers theorizes that heroin is not introduced to the brain as such, yet morphine. According to them, heroin goes through a series of transformations before reaching the brain, one being 6-MAM, a metabolite. This metabolite induces the signaling of dopamine, a crucial molecule in the reward circuit for pleasure. The 6-MAM then converts to morphine about an hour of heroin injection to the body, and then dominates for the proceeding hours. Six to twelve hours after injection, morphine produces a metabolite called morphin-6-glucuronide that is responsible for the heroin effects one may observe.
Treatment that Morland's group are looking into, deals with blocking these substances from entering the brain with the 6-MAM antibody. When the antibody binds to 6-MAM, it will be too large to enter the brain, thus causing a stop to the effects of heroin.
Pretty dang on awesome!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130926102626.htm
Friday, November 15, 2013
Blog 12a: Workout with Methamphetamine
Remember when Coca-Cola had cocaine in it? I've always believed it was to keep consumers addicted to the product, whether it is true or not is up to you. Well, the idea is far from gone. The company Drive Sports produced a "performance fuel" supplement called CRAZE, that one would take before a workout to help enhance their performance without the crash feeling of energy drinks or such. After many athletes failed their athletic drug tests, further research went into this product for answers; "the results revealed the presence of methamphetamine analog N,alpha-DEPEA", a drug with addictive qualities.
Three samples of this product were tested from different locations: US retail stores, and online stores in US and Holland. Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the scientists were able to correctly identify the methamphetamine analog, a dangerous designer drug. The company stands behind their statement that the compound that is in their product (N,N-diethyl-phenylethylamine or N,N-DEPEA) is what they use instead of the N,alpha-DEPEA and it is derived from endangered dendrobium orchids. Scientists have no proof if the compound Driven Sports claim actually comes from orchids, but nonetheless, after analysis of their samples, the analog has been identified.
As of now the product has been banned. If the facts are true regarding where the compound (N,N-DEPEA) is derived, the only thing the FDA can do is "warn consumers and remove supplements containing N,alpha-DEPEA from sale.
Mind blowing if you ask me!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131014094107.htm
Three samples of this product were tested from different locations: US retail stores, and online stores in US and Holland. Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the scientists were able to correctly identify the methamphetamine analog, a dangerous designer drug. The company stands behind their statement that the compound that is in their product (N,N-diethyl-phenylethylamine or N,N-DEPEA) is what they use instead of the N,alpha-DEPEA and it is derived from endangered dendrobium orchids. Scientists have no proof if the compound Driven Sports claim actually comes from orchids, but nonetheless, after analysis of their samples, the analog has been identified.
As of now the product has been banned. If the facts are true regarding where the compound (N,N-DEPEA) is derived, the only thing the FDA can do is "warn consumers and remove supplements containing N,alpha-DEPEA from sale.
Mind blowing if you ask me!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131014094107.htm
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Blog 11b: The microbial clock and time of death
So! I'm reading the article and before I finish the first sentence, I see it deals with our lovely University!
In September, Science Daily reports how the microbial clock can help determine the time of death of an individual. A research group is working closely with Dr. Sibyl Bucheli and Aaron Lynne (spelled Linne according to them) to discover how this is so. The scientists are testing the microbes on a body as one decomposes as a function of external factors such as "weather, seasons, animal scavenging and insect infestations". The study is still pretty new, so there isn't anything conclusive, but it is still interesting!
I thought the article was pretty cool because it dealt with good ol' SHSU. Is it just me or did you slightly get excited as well?!
Find the link below:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130924153953.htm
In September, Science Daily reports how the microbial clock can help determine the time of death of an individual. A research group is working closely with Dr. Sibyl Bucheli and Aaron Lynne (spelled Linne according to them) to discover how this is so. The scientists are testing the microbes on a body as one decomposes as a function of external factors such as "weather, seasons, animal scavenging and insect infestations". The study is still pretty new, so there isn't anything conclusive, but it is still interesting!
I thought the article was pretty cool because it dealt with good ol' SHSU. Is it just me or did you slightly get excited as well?!
Find the link below:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130924153953.htm
Blog 11a: Lollipops that attack?!
Well, not literally (lollipops do not attack). The bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica, is one that causes fever and diarrhea upon infection. It uses extensions from its body called adhensins that are sticky, thus allowing for adhesion to the host cell for attack. The scientists of this study are hoping to discover the exact transportation of extracellular domains; in doing so, they have identified important components of Y. enterocolitica's gram negative membrane. Having insight to the membrane and how the bacteria moves about, will aid in the development of antibiotics to fight against the infection.
My question: would you go for the transportation mechanism or find a way to stop the bacteria by the way it attaches to a host cell? Which do you think would be a better method?
Find the article below:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121112090513.htm
My question: would you go for the transportation mechanism or find a way to stop the bacteria by the way it attaches to a host cell? Which do you think would be a better method?
Find the article below:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121112090513.htm
Monday, November 4, 2013
Blog 10b: Who Said Suicide Was Always Bad?!
Excerpt from article:
"Centrioles are tiny structures in the cell that play an important role in cell division and in the assembly of cilia and flagella. Changes in the number of centrioles are involved in diseases, such as cancer or infertility."
Centrioles are formed with the use of a protein regulator named Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4), when it is absent or in excess, the centrioles may never form or form too many, therefore some form of regulation must occur. PLK4 regulates itself by what the scientists consider, suicide. PLK4 self-destructs in a controlled and timely manner; it does so by adding a phosphate group on to different sites of PLK4 in a specific order to act as destruction signals.
Using the model organism known as the fruit fly, scientists were able to observe the effect of an abolished destruction mechanism on its fertility in both male and females; both showed to have been impacted by the change.
I thought this was interesting because the whole time I was reading the article I kept thinking of the movie The Core. In the movie, they had to set a bomb off at a precise time and at a precise distance around the core to ensure that the core will being to rotate again (for those who have not seen the movie, the world was coming to an end because the core of the Earth was no longer rotating). Well, for the PLK4 protein, it had to self-destruct by a series of events to at a precise time to provide PLK4 "with enough time for centriole number control before it is degraded". Number control helped with making sure it did not kill all PLK4 proteins present and that enough is actually killed.
What do you all think about this mechanism of self-destructing?
Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131031124815.htm
"Centrioles are tiny structures in the cell that play an important role in cell division and in the assembly of cilia and flagella. Changes in the number of centrioles are involved in diseases, such as cancer or infertility."
Centrioles are formed with the use of a protein regulator named Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4), when it is absent or in excess, the centrioles may never form or form too many, therefore some form of regulation must occur. PLK4 regulates itself by what the scientists consider, suicide. PLK4 self-destructs in a controlled and timely manner; it does so by adding a phosphate group on to different sites of PLK4 in a specific order to act as destruction signals.
Using the model organism known as the fruit fly, scientists were able to observe the effect of an abolished destruction mechanism on its fertility in both male and females; both showed to have been impacted by the change.
I thought this was interesting because the whole time I was reading the article I kept thinking of the movie The Core. In the movie, they had to set a bomb off at a precise time and at a precise distance around the core to ensure that the core will being to rotate again (for those who have not seen the movie, the world was coming to an end because the core of the Earth was no longer rotating). Well, for the PLK4 protein, it had to self-destruct by a series of events to at a precise time to provide PLK4 "with enough time for centriole number control before it is degraded". Number control helped with making sure it did not kill all PLK4 proteins present and that enough is actually killed.
What do you all think about this mechanism of self-destructing?
Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131031124815.htm
Blog 10a: Why Do Babies Get Sick?!
Automatically we assume newborns are prone to sickness due to their weak immunity system, which is true. This article approaches this idea with new evidence that supports this idea with a protein names toll-like receptor or TLR3 for short.
When comparing blood cell samples from newborns with those of the same blood type of adults, the TLR3 protein was missing from the newborns that was present in adults. The TLR3 protein is responsible for getting rid of viral-infected cells introduced by a virus of sorts such as the herpes simplex virus (HSV). A discovery made was that the adult immune system responded by ways of killing the virus, while the newborns immune systems were either impaired of functioning in this same response or could not do so at all.
With this new information, the scientist plan to use this knowledge to develop novel therapies to fight against newborn illnesses.
Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131031125203.htm
When comparing blood cell samples from newborns with those of the same blood type of adults, the TLR3 protein was missing from the newborns that was present in adults. The TLR3 protein is responsible for getting rid of viral-infected cells introduced by a virus of sorts such as the herpes simplex virus (HSV). A discovery made was that the adult immune system responded by ways of killing the virus, while the newborns immune systems were either impaired of functioning in this same response or could not do so at all.
With this new information, the scientist plan to use this knowledge to develop novel therapies to fight against newborn illnesses.
Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131031125203.htm
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)