Resources

List by Alphabet: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

a Related Biological Terms:

antioxidant

A scavenger of reactive oxygen free radical species (OH•, O2-•, etc.) and other oxidizing compounds; of particular importance are those that act as antioxidants in vivo, e.g. ascorbate, a-tocopherol, reduced glutathione. (see also oxidative stress)

antiparallel

In protein chemistry, the orientation of extended polypeptide chains that interact in a pleated sheet structure, one chain in an N- to C-terminal direction and the other in a C- to N-terminal direction; in nucleic acid chemistry, the orientation of the two polynucleotide chains of a double helix, one that runs in a 3' to 5' direction and the other in a 5' to 3' direction.

antiport

A transport mechanism that simultaneously drives two different compounds or ions in opposite directions across a membrane. (see also mobile barrier; mobile carrier; symport; uniport)

antisense

Descriptive of an endogenous or semi-synthetically produced oligoribonucleotide complementary to mRNA and capable of base-pairing and annealing with mRNA to prevent translation; or of an oligodeoxyribonucleotide capable of binding to the major groove of polypurine-polypyrimidine sequences of DNA by Hoogsteen base pairing to silence a gene. Also used to describe one of the two strands of double-stranded DNA, usually that which has the same sequence as the mRNA, i.e. the non-transcribed strand. However, there is not universal agreement on this convention, and a preferred designation is coding strand for the strand whose sequence matches that of the mRNA, and non-coding strand for the complementary strand (i.e. the transcription template, or transcribed strand). De Mesmaeker, A., Haner, R., Martin, P. and Moser, H.E. (1995) Acc. Chem. Res. 28, 366-374; Hengen, P.N. (1996) Trends Biochem. Sci. 21, 153-154; Cornish-Bowden, A. (1996) Trends Biochem. Sci. 21, 155

antisense drug

(= code blocker (antisense drug))

apical (luminal)

Descriptive of the free border of an epithelial cell, where it is in contact with vascular space. (see also basolateral)

apicomplexan

Descriptive of a class of protozoan parasites that pass part of their life cycles in mammalian cells, e.g. the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum, and which contain in their apices organelles that assist penetration of host cells. Also characteristic are the apicoplast, an organelle which contains maternally-inherited circular DNA, possibly of green algal evolutionary origin, and enzymes of the C6C3 metabolic pathway.Ridley, R.G. (1998) Nat. Med. 4, 894-895

apicoplast

(see apicomplexan)

apocrine

Descriptive of a secretion mechanism in which vesicles that contain the product burst through the cell membrane and are released along with some of the cytoplasm and plasma membrane. (see also exocytosis; holocrine)

apolar water-accessible surface area

The surface of a protein that is internalized in native proteins and that becomes available for interaction with water during denaturation.

< 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 > Total Pages 412

If you know of any terms that have been omitted from this glossary that you feel would be useful to include, please send detail to the Editorial Office at GenScript: website@genscript.com

If your term is adopted, we will send 1,000 EzCoupon points to your GenScript account.