Oxidase vs. Oxygenase

Another confusing yet very simple thing

• Oxidase does oxidation in Redox reactions.
• Oxygenase adds an Oxygen to the substrate

It's not that hard to remember right?

Jay :)

Neurotransmitters associated with sleep mnemonic

Neurotransmitters associated with sleep mnemonic
SAND

S- Serotonin: helps initiate sleep cycle and promotes wakefulness.
A- Acetylcholine: levels are higher during REM sleep.
N- Norepinephrine: levels are lower during REM sleep.
D- Dopamine: high levels responsible for arousal and wakefulness.

Note:
- The regulation of levels of Acetylcholine and Norepinephrine is an important biochemical trigger for REM sleep. Higher levels of Ach and lower levels of NE means there is increase in the time period of Rapid eye movement phase of sleep cycle.

- Serotoninergic neurons are present in Distal Raphe nuclei which enhances wakefulness. Thats why the 5-HT activity decreases during NREM sleep and becomes silent during REM phase.

- Dopamine agonists, such as  bromocriptine, pramipexole and others are used to treat parkinson's disease which work by acting on dopamine receptors and compensate for the lack of dopamine which the brain cells no longer produce. They are used together with levodopa. By increasing dopamine levels they restore the balance of Acetylcholine and dopamine thus increasing wakefulness.

- Antipsychotic drugs are dopamine antagonists. So they decrease wakefulness and increase sleep time of a person.

- Higher levels of Ach during REM sleep is associated with erections in men.


Thats all
- Jaskunwar Singh

Dehydrogenase vs. Dehydratase

Another simple thing that we often get confused with in Biochemistry!

• Dehydrogenase removes Hydrogen
• Dehydratase remove H2O

Simple right?

Jay 

Synthase vs. Synthetase

This is very simple guys! Synthases don't use ATP to make the new bond between substrates while synthetases need an ATP.

ok fine! How to remember it?

Think of the additional T that comes in syntheTase is from ATP! ;)

Got a way to memorize it?

Jay :)

Enzymes and the Type of Reactions they Catalyze ( Part 6 : LIGASES)

Hello guys, we come to an end of this 6 part enzyme series and also this is the 500th Medicowesome post for 2016! Woohoo! :D

Ok, back to our business! Ligases, what to they do? Obvio, they LIGATE! Or simply connect! But connect what?

Think of these guys as a Plumber who connects those pipes! ;)

Major subclasses

• Synthetase - Formation of new bond between substrates using the energy from an ATP
• Synthase - Link two molecules without using the energy from ATP (Confusing with Synthetase? They use ATP. Check here for a memory aid.)
• Carboxylase - Formation of a new bond between a substrate and a CO2 using the energy from an ATP

Are we ok guys?

Jay  :) 

Enzymes and the Type of Reactions they Catalyze ( Part 5 : ISOMERASES)

Ok what are isomers? Same molecular Formula, different structure! That is an Isomer! And presumably isomerases play with these isomers. But how?

• Racemase - Conversion of D isomer to L isomer or vice versa(Read about them here more in IkaN's article)
• Mutase - Conversion of one constitutional isomer into another. They shift one functional group from one place to another place within the same molecule.

Are we clear on this? 

Jay :)

Enzymes and the Type of Reactions they Catalyze ( Part 4 : LYASES)

With part 4 we come to a little confusing group of Enzymes guys! LYASES! They are called Lyases, of course because they do Lyse! :P

ok the major subclasses?

• Dehydratase - Removal of H2O from a substrate (Confusing with Dehydrogenase?Read Part1)
• Decarboxylase - Removal of CO2 from a substrate
• Deaminase - Removal of NH3 from a substrate
• HYDRATASE - ADDING of H2O to a substrate
• Aldolase - Produces Aldehydes via elimination reactions

Any questions guys? :)

Jay

Enzymes and the Type of Reactions they Catalyze ( Part 3 : HYDROLASES)

Back with Part 3 guys! It's Jay with Hydrolases! :P

There are 5 major classes of Hydrolases. They always Hydrolyse means breaking it down with the help of H2O.

• Lipase - Hydrolysis of ESTER linkages of lipids
• Protease - Hydrolysis of AMIDE linkages of proteins
• Nuclease - Hydrolysis of SUGAR PHOSPHATE ESTER linkages of Nucleic Acids. Phosphodiesterases also do the same
• Carbohydrase - Hydrolysis of GLYCOSIDIC bonds of Carbohydrates
• Phosphatase - Hydrolysis of PHOSPHATE ESTER bonds.

Also please note, that the types of bonds in CAPITAL ITALICIZED letters are the major types of bonds in those biomolecules as well as the bonds that break due to these enzymes.

Jay :)

Enzymes and the Type of Reactions they Catalyze ( Part 2 : TRANSFERASES)

Hey guys, Jay here once again with Part 2. Here we will talk about Transferases!

Transferases, do Transfer! But transfer what? There are two major types of Transferases!

• Transaminase --> Transfer of an Amino group between substrates
• Kinases --> Transfer of a Phosphate group between substrates often from ATP
• Methyltranferase --> Tranfers single-carbon units between substrates
• Phosphorylase -->Transfers inorganic phosphate to a substrate

Trivia!

What does Kinase even mean? It comes from the greek work Kinein means "To move". It originally had nothing to do with Phosphates. But now we almost exclusively use this for Phosphate transfers. :)

Jay :)

Enzymes and the Type of Reactions they Catalyze ( Part 1 : OXIDOREDUCTASES)

Guys the post is quite long. So I thought to break it into 6 different parts. This post will cover Oxidoreductases.

There are 5 main types of Enzymes in this category. As the name suggests, two of them are Oxidases and Reductases. The other ones are Dehydrogenases, Oxygenases and Peroxidases.

• Oxidases --> Oxidizes a substrate
• Reductases --> Reduces a substrate
• Dehydrogenases --> A double bond is introduced to the substrate, by removal of two H atoms. The H are accepted by a Coenzyme.
• Oxygenase --> Directly incorporates Oxygen into the substrate
• Peroxidase --> Uses Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 as an electrone acceptor

Question? Yes! Removal of Hydrogen and adding of Oxygen are also considered a type of Oxidation because it increases the oxidation number of the substrate! Pre-Med Organic Chemistry anyone? ;)

See you soon with the other categories guys!

Jay :)

P.S. - Don't confuse Dehydrogenase with Dehydratase!!! We go through that here:)

Urgent vs. Emergent Tracheostomy

In English, Urgency and Emergency almost means the same. But when it comes to Medical literature, it has a little difference.

So what are the differences of Urgent and Emergent Tracheostomy?

Night terrors vs Nightmares

Hey awesomites!

People who have night terrors are often misdiagnosed, nightmares being the most common. Post traumatic stress disorder is another common misdiagnosis (in adults).

Here's the difference between night tremors and nightmares both of these are classified under a group of disorders, the Parasomnias!

Recent research suggests that getting an extra sleep for 30- 40 minutes a night reduces both nightmares and night terrors to a great extent.

Scheduled awakening therapy-
Another treatment strategy (for night terror) is "Scheduled awakening therapy". It involves waking the person from sleep 15- 30 minutes before the episodes typically occur so that the cycle is interrupted and prevent the onset of the night terror. But the child is not to be fully awaken in the middle of the night.
Thats where the idea of sleep guardian came from. The sleep guardian plans smartly and finds a right time to partially wake up the child and vibrate each night (for less than 3 minutes). This prevents the episode of night terrors and sleep is not actually totally disturbed.
This method of prevention of night terrors has shown 90% positive results within first week with 80% fewer night terrors after four weeks of use.

Thats all
- Jaskunwar Singh

Adamantinoma

Hello awesome people !
Today's topic is - ADAMANTINOMA ! (and no it's not what would only happen to Wolverine! Haha see what I did there ?! )

1)Also known as Ameloblastoma (Ameloblasts are enamel forming cells), Eve's disease (looks like ADAM & EVE had a tiff over who'd name it, and clearly it was a draw! :p)

2) Its a benign tumor, but behaves like a malignant one, it metastasizes to lungs. (so wanna be)

3) Sites : #Mandible (most common site) (anyone else going weak in the knees seeing Hugh Jackman's jawline?, cool now you'll remember it better!)
Talking of knees, #Tibia is the 2nd most common site !
#Pituitary because the stalk of pituitary and enamel arise from oral epithelium

3) Slow growing tumor, with multiple cystic spaces...patients often complain of falling teeth or fracture mandible :(

4) X ray shows a "Honeycomb" appearence

5) Treatment? Well since this tumor is very "Adamant" simple curettage will cause recurrence, hence we do a wide excision (1cm margin)...Sometimes a Hemimandibulectomy may have to be done! (Sounds like what Wolverine would do to his enemies!)
All the Wolverine fans put your hands up and read this again !!  :p
That's about it !!
-PP