Novus Biologicals uses cookies to provide you with a great website experience. By continuing to use this website you acknowledge this and agree to our cookie policy.
The neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's disease, is responsible for 60 to 80% of all dementia cases.1 Neurodegeneration occurs in response to the accumulation of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated tau.
Autophagy is a cellular process whereby cytosolic components are broken down and eliminated or recycled. As a homeostatic mechanism, basal autophagic activity eliminates excess or abnormal proteins and organelles1. As an induced process, autophagy may be triggered by various external challenges, such as decreased nutrient and energy resources, and oxidative stress1.
Cell death/recycling pathways such as apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy are an integral part of the growth, development, homeostasis as well as the pathophysiology in the life of living organisms. These signaling pathways are highly regulated and some of their key regulatory targets are discussed below.
Apoptosis
Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is primarily characterized by the activation of caspases which further regulate the mass cleavage of proteins and DNA. Some of major the proteins responsible for various apoptotic events are:
The root of Parkinson’s disease (PD) points to a poorly regulated electron transport chain leading to mitochondrial damage, where many proteins need to work cohesively to ensure proper function. The two key players of this pathway are PINK1, also known as PTEN or PARK6, and Parkin, also known as PARK2 - where PINK1 acts as an upstream effector of Parkin to regulate mitochondrial dynamics. Mitochondria must maintain a healthy equilibrium and do so by undergoing a series of fission and fusion event
The process of autophagy, or lysosome-mediated degradation of damaged proteins and organelles in the cytosol, is a vital cellular process that acts as a quality control mechanism for proteins and organelles. The misregulation of autophagy can lead to an imbalance of cellular homeostasis and the subsequent development of disease. Therefore, the study of autophagy is at the forefront of neuroscience and cancer research, among others.
Sordaria macrospora is a filamentous fungus that serves as very useful system for scientific research due to a short life cycle and easy manipulation. Just like any other model organism, it is important to have an effective loading control to validate experiments in the Sordaria macrospora. In addition, the growth and morphogenesis of filamentous fungi is dependent on actin organization. Actin is a very abundant protein across biological species and can transition between monomeric and filamentous states. Actin has an alpha and beta isoform, both of which sha
