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SECOND LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY. "Apoptosis is intertwined with inflammation for pathogen-infected cells. Inflammatory cell death mediated by caspases may serve as an effective defense mechanism against infection." The apoptosome is intimately associated with the inflammasome. A brilliant example of the exquisitely fine-tuned molecular regulation in the cell. https://lnkd.in/eKiDeEq View in LinkedIn

APOPTOSOME. "In many cells, the apoptosome is dispensable for stress-induced apoptosis. Since the level of total caspase activity is markedly lower in its absence, the apoptosome must be an amplifier of the caspase cascade rather than a critical initiator of it. Apparently the amplification is more important for ensuring the death of certain cell types (e.g., neuronal precursors) than others (e.g., lymphocytes)." https://lnkd.in/er7D9PK View in LinkedIn

THE MOLECULAR DESIGN of the apoptosome is exquisitely detailed in this beautiful paper. https://lnkd.in/ev4WxVR View in LinkedIn

VISUAL MODEL OF APOPTOSOME. This large molecular machine is a radially symmetrical multimolecular holoenzyme complex with five structural domains. In some aspects it looks rather like an ATPase. https://lnkd.in/eP3sxmT View in LinkedIn

STUNNING MOLECULAR MACHINE. "Apoptosome assembly is a critical step in the mitochondrial death pathway and requires Apaf-1, cytochrome c, and dATP/ATP. The apoptosome is a wheel-like particle with seven spokes that radiate from a central hub, and has a calculated mass of ∼1 MDa." https://lnkd.in/eXVxDrY View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the topic of programmed cell death, or apoptosis. The mitochondria, derived from ancient bacteria, play a key role in the regulation of cellular suicide. The molecular machinery involved in apoptosis is an exemplar of the remarkably intricate assembly of one of the most potent and potentially destructive series of reactions in living cells. This angel of death is also exquisitely beautiful. View in LinkedIn

VERTICAL INHERITANCE. "Horizontal gene transfer is increasingly described between bacteria and animals. Such transfers that are vertically inherited have the potential to influence the evolution of animals." https://lnkd.in/eBQXvvd View in LinkedIn

VIRAL FOSSILS. "Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) proliferate by the repeated integration of new viral sequences into their host's germline, integrations which can become fixed in the host population and have led to ERV sequences (loci) comprising 8–10% of the human and mouse genomes." http://www.pnas.org/content/109/19/7385 View in LinkedIn

ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUSES. "We also show that ERV abundance follows the Pareto principle or 20/80 rule, with ∼20% of lineages containing 80% of the loci. This rule is observed in many biological systems, including infectious disease epidemics, where commonly ∼20% of the infected individuals are responsible for 80% of onward infection." http://www.pnas.org/content/109/19/7385 View in LinkedIn

GERMLINE INHERITANCE. "Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) differ from typical retroviruses in being inherited through the host germline and therefore are a unique combination of pathogen and selfish genetic element. Some ERV lineages proliferate by infecting germline cells, as do typical retroviruses, whereas others lack the env gene required for virions to enter cells and thus behave like retrotransposons." https://lnkd.in/eCFFh8D View in LinkedIn