Neuropeptides are key signaling molecules in many pathways and can serve as potential biomarkers or therapeutics. Mass spectrometry has emerged as a powerful tool for studying neuropeptides with high sensitivity and accuracy. Isobaric tagging can further enhance this method by improving throughput and reducing sampling needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Proteomics
July 2021
Introduction: Neuropeptides are signaling molecules originating in the neuroendocrine system that can act as neurotransmitters and hormones in many biochemical processes. Their exact function is difficult to characterize, however, due to dependence on concentration, post-translational modifications, and the presence of other comodulating neuropeptides. Mass spectrometry enables sensitive, accurate, and global peptidomic analyses that can profile neuropeptide expression changes to understand their roles in many biological problems, such as neurodegenerative disorders and metabolic function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopper is a necessary nutrient but quickly becomes toxic at elevated levels. To properly handle environmental copper influxes and maintain metal homeostasis, organisms utilize various methods to chelate, excrete, and metabolize heavy metals. These mechanisms are believed to involve complex signaling pathways mediated by neuropeptides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypoxia (i.e., low oxygen (O) levels) is a common environmental challenge for several aquatic species, including fish and invertebrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccurate clinical therapeutics rely on understanding the metabolic responses of individual cells. However, the high level of heterogeneity between cells means that simply sampling from large populations of cells is not necessarily a reliable approximation of an individual cell's response. As a result, there have been numerous developments in the field of single-cell analysis to address this lack of knowledge.
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