COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE BINDING POCKETS OF MAMMALIAN PROPROTEIN CONVERTASES AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF SPECIFIC SMALL MOLECULE INHIBITORS

Proprotein convertases are enzymes that proteolytically cleave protein precursors in the secretory pathway to yield functional proteins.Seven mammalian subtilisin/Kex2p-like proprotein convertases have been identified: furin, PC1, PC2, PC4, PACE4, PC5 and PC7.The binding pockets of all seven proprotein convertases are evolutionarily conserved and h

Astrocytic uptake of glutamate shapes extracellular neurotransmitter dynamics, Heater Assy receptor activation, and synaptogenesis.During development, glutamate transport becomes more robust.How neonatal brain insult affects the functional maturation of glutamate transport remains unanswered.Neonatal brain insult can lead to developmental delays, c

Archaeological indicators of cognitive complexity become increasingly prevalent during the African Middle Stone Age, with the habitual exploitation of red ochre widely viewed as a key feature of the emergence of modern human behaviour.Given that some of the uses of ochre remain ambiguous, we present the preliminary results of an ongoing study in wh

Plexins are cell surface receptors that bind semaphorins and transduce signals for regulating neuronal axon guidance and other processes.Plexin signaling depends on their cytoplasmic GTPase activating protein (GAP) domain, which specifically inactivates the Ras Magazine Rack homolog Rap through an ill-defined non-canonical catalytic mechanism.The p

Architecture has always been a means of expressing world viewpoints that are governing in a given society.Gothic architecture expressed man’s desire to come closer to divine infinity.Gothic cathedrals would combine two worlds separated by an infinite metaphysical distance.Baroque architecture attempted to include in the vertical scheme the wh