Cystic Fibrosis

CYSTIC FIBROSIS 

The day of convention at Washington Adventist University. There were several presentations  that caught my attention, because most of them involve some type of disease. There was one specific that I appreciated. My friend and classmate made an impressive model of a pair of lungs, one had purple flowers that represent the awareness for cystic fibrosis and the other one affected lung of the disease. The information that she presented was an oral presentation and she went over what cystic fibrosis was all about. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs but can also affect other organs such as the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. Some of the symptoms that are presented are sinus infections, difficulty breathing, and clubbing of fingers and toes. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited autosomal recessive disease, that causes by the presence of mutations. She also mentioned that unfortunately there is no cure for this condition, but it can be treated with antibiotics.In some cases lung transplantation is necessary in the case the lungs continues to deteriorate. I thought she did a very good job presenting the cell and molecular aspect of this disease.

Parkinson Disease

Investigation

Parkinson's Disease 

Parkinson's sickness is a constant and dynamic development issue, implying that side effects proceed and decline after some time. Almost one million individuals in the US are living with Parkinson's sickness. The cause is obscure, and in spite of the fact that there is no cure, there are treatment choices, for example, prescription and surgery to deal with its side effects.

Parkinson's includes the glitch and passing of imperative nerve cells in the brain, called neurons. Parkinson's principally influences neurons in a region of the cerebrum called the substantial nigra. Some of these withering neurons deliver dopamine, a substance that sends messages to the piece of the cerebrum that controls development and coordination. As Parkinson’s  advances, the measure of dopamine delivered in the cerebrum diminishes, leaving the effects of uncontrollable muscle movement.

Cell Molecular

Parkinson's Disease is "idiopathic"meaning that the caused of it is unknown. There is about a 15 percentage that can cause the disease. A mutation on the gene can cause Parkinson's Disease. A gene that can be affected is chromosome 6 has a mutation in Park 2 gene that can be inherited by an Autosomal Recessive. The park 2 gene is one of the largest gene and it encodes for protein called Parkin. The exact function of parkin is to tag other damaged or excess protein to ubiquitin and be transferred to proteasomes to be breakdown.

Lysosomes

Lysosomes

Lysosomes are membrane-bound organelles that cut or digest molecules found in a cell. The function of lysosomes can be breaking down into two processes autophagy and crinophagy. Autophagy means self-eating, and it's when lysosomes digest molecules that are part of the cell itself, or other cells. If there are organelles that are no longer functional, these will be digested by lysosomes. A good example of autophagy would be the macrophages of the immune system. Macrophages function its to engulf bacteria and viruses and then be transferred to the lysosomes to digest. Crinophagy is when the lysosomes digest excess secretory products. An example of crinopahgy will be if a cell is producing too much of a hormone, lysosome will break down the extra hormone that it's being produced. In both autophagy and crinophagy, after the lysosomes complete the breakdown of molecules. It will release the molecules into the cytoplasm for reused. 

Viruses vs Cancer

Cancer vs Virus 

Cancer is a group of diseases that characterize by abnormal and uncontrolled cell proliferation. Cancer cells growth with the potential to invade and interfere with other organs systems functioning. The initiated cause for cancer it comes from a mutation in the genes that usually control cell proliferation. The identification of the mutating genes came from the studies of viruses that cause cancer in animals. Furthermore, studies eventually were able to identify the specifics of cancer or the causing gene carried by the virus. And what is the relationship with normal cells? Although some cancers are known be caused by a virus; some occur from mutations in normal cells genes. There are studies of cancer-causing viruses, which had led to the identification of a various gene responsible for nonvirus induced cancer, this has helped to understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for cancer. In the search for a cancer treatment, these insights into the molecular and cellular biology are important to achieve this step.

Source:

"Viruses That Can Lead to Cancer." American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society Medical and Editorial Content Team, 11 July 2016. Web. 011 Apr. 2017.

Cytoskeleton Microtubules

Cytoskeleton Microtubules 

The cytoskeleton is composed of protein fibers that determine the shape of a cell without cell walls. It primarily provides for movement of cells, for the structural support, movement organelles within the cell and the framework for moving and separating chromosomes during cell division. The three types of protein fibers in the cell are thick microtubules,  thin microfilaments, and medium sized intermediate filaments. Microtubules structure are hollow tubes that assemble from subunits made out of the protein tubulin. Cell subunits are assembled into microtubules by microtubule organizing centers found in many locations inside the cell, in particular, eukaryotic cells have a microtubule organizing center near the nucleus which is known by the name of the centrosome.  The centrosome during cell division span the particular microtubes call the spindle apparatus which separates chromosomes and divides then between the two new daughter cells.

Natural Death

Reflection 

Natural Death 

I came across an interesting article titled: "What Our Cells Teach Us About a Natural Death." The author Haider Javed Warraich compares and contrast two different points the deterioration of cells and the end of life. At the begging of his article, he sets scenarios and explains how death has been view throughout history. He then makes a transition to the end cycle of cells. The author explains that cell dies via three primary mechanisms. One which is considered the ugliest form of cell death is necrosis; it occurs because of lack nutrients, cell's burst open by this releasing their content. The second mechanism of cell death is called autophagy, and this is when a cell turns on itself which the redundant cytoplasmic components transform into lysosomes. The third and most known cell death is apoptosis, is the natural deterioration or signaling molecules undergo a form of self-demolition. As a result, apoptosis is convenient for ourselves; it regulates the structures and growth of our organisms. At the end of the article, the author makes his point of viewed. What is beneficial for an organism is best for the cell, which whether a cell has to die in appropriate fashion for the sake of society, ecosystem, or body.

Source: 

Warraich, Haider Javed. "What Our Cells Teach Us About a ‘Natural’ Death." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

Kidney Stones

Encounter

Kidney Stones Formation

I decided to write about Kidney Stones because a family member has encounter this condition. I got a called this week from my father and in our conversation he mentioned his excruciating pain in his lower back. As Biology major I started to put his symptoms to figure out what was the cause from his pain. I didn't imitatively know what it was, but I did my researcher on the possibilities of his pain and everything pointed out to kidney stones. I told my dad to not take my word for it and I then encourage him to see a physician to get tested. Half way through the week my father calls me and tells me that I was right, it was kidney stones. The doctor than prescribe him medicine for the discomfort and expulsion of the stones. I wanted to be right, I didn't wanted to be something worst. I was than intrigue and curious on how this small components are form. Here is what I found out. 

I kidney stones are easily formed, some even can be the size of a head pin or a small rocks. The pain resulting from this crystal structure can be dangerous. Another name for kidney stones is renal calculi, are aggregates of crystals enclosed in a matrix that is developed inside the kidney. There are five major categories of crystals which are: calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, struvite, uric acid, and cysteine. The most common crystal is calcium oxalate. For a stone to form it has to go through several phase. The first phase is nucleation, ions like calcium and oxalate are filter into the urine by the kidney spontaneously and then join together to form a solid crystal. The crystal then travels along nephron and then deposited at the renal papilla where they obtain grow and this is the second phase. Crystals that are in the same place and have already form stick together with other crystals to create a clusters this is the third phase aggregation. The last phase is retention, The clusters than are formed to a stone that which are retain in the kidney where they continue growing for an unspecified time. Then the stones are moved and are displaced into the ureter tube. If the stones continues to grow until it reaches a critical size it can be too large to pass easily through  the ureteropelvic junction, the illiac artery, or the ureterovesicle junction. In result there is pain and obstruction, until the stone slowly passes into the bladder and then expelled through the urine stream.  

Source :Evan, Andrew P. "Physiopathology and Etiology of Stone Formation in the Kidney and the Urinary Tract." Pediatric Nephrology (Berlin, Germany). Springer-Verlag, 01 May 2010. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.