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:

comet assay

Single cell gel electrophoresis; a method for assessing DNA damage in individual cells caused, for example, by apoptosis, radiation or chemical mutation. Cells embedded in an agarose gel are subjected to electrophoresis and stained with a DNA-binding dye. If the DNA is fragmented by double-strand breaks, small fragments will migrate toward the anode and under the microscope will appear as a central fluorescent body, the nucleus, and a smaller body, the fragments, giving the appearance of a comet head and tail. Alkaline treatment of the cells before electrophoresis will increase the sensitivity of the assay by denaturing the DNA, thus allowing detection of single-strand breaks.Olive, P.L. (1999) Intl. J. Rad. Biol. 75, 395-405 Recommended reading: next generation sequencing

comparative anchor tagged site (CATS)

An extended DNA sequence that is sufficiently conserved across a spectrum of species, e.g. all mammals or mouse and human, so as to serve as a marker for comparative genome mapping and assist the search in the genome of a second species of a gene for a trait known from a first species' genome. The most useful CATS will include coding sequences to assist their identification.(see expressed sequence tag; sequence tagged site)Nadeau, J.H. and Sankoff, D. (1997) Nat. genet. 15, 6-7 Recommended reading: next generation sequencing

comparative map

An application of the comparative mapping of genes and other genetic markers in the genomes of several mammalian species to the localization to a specific chromosomal locus of a gene, in particular one thought to be related to a genetic disease (a candidate disease gene). Because mammalian evolution has resulted in relatively few gene relocations, and since those that have occurred seem to be random, knowledge of linkages of genes in mammalian species may be helpful in locating a gene in another mammal's genome. Eppig, J.T. and Nadeau, J.H. (1995) Curr. Opin. genet. Dev. 5, 709-716 Recommended reading: next generation sequencing

compartment

A functionally isolated reservoir of a metabolite; the space occupied by a pool.

competitive binding assay

A technique for assaying a substance by observing how effective it is, compared with standards, in displacing a fixed amount of the labelled (often radiolabelled) material from a binding site of great specificity and high affinity, usually an antibody or cell surface receptor. (see also ELISA; radioimmunoassay (RIA))

competitive labelling (differential chemical modification)

A method for characterization of the microenvironment of an amino acid residue of a protein, e.g. its accessibility to solvent or its pKa; other residues of the same amino acid serve as internal controls. Rates of reaction or ratios of reaction compared with control residues are observed; very limited amounts of reagent and extents of reaction maximize the competition for the reagent between similar groups on the protein and ensure that only unmodified protein reacts with reagent. Related tool: molecular biology tools

competitive oligonucleotide primary-utilized primers

COP-utilized primers; a method essentially the same as PCR amplification of multiple specific alleles, except the mismatches in primers occur in the middle of the primers.

complementarity-determining region (CDR)

A polypeptide sequence of a variable domain of an immunoglobulin that is particularly responsible for its recognition by lymphocytes. These short sequences interrupt and loop out from the framework regions (FRs), which are relatively invariant and form the basic structural β-sheet scaffolding of the domains.Zanetti, M. (1992) Nature (London) 355, 476-477 Related tool: peptide calculator

complementary

In nucleic acid chemistry, descriptive of the relationship between two polynucleotides that can combine in an antiparallel double helix; the bases of each polynucleotide are in a hydrogen-bonded inter-strand pair with a complementary base, A to T (or U) and C to G. In protein chemistry, the matching of shape and/or charge of a protein to a ligand. Related tool: molecular biology tools

complementary DNA

(= complementary DNA)

< 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 > Total Pages 251

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.