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| Blood-feeding arthropods rely heavily on the pharmacological properties of their saliva to get a blood meal and suppress immune reactions of hosts. Little information is available on antihemostatic substances in horsefly salivary glands although their saliva has been thought to contain wide range of physiologically active molecules. In traditional Eastern medicine, horseflies are used as anti-t... more |
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| It is generally agreed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to skin aging, skin disorders, and skin diseases. Skin possesses an extremely efficient antioxidant system. This antioxidant activity is conferred by two systems: antioxidant enzymes and small molecules that can scavenge ROS by donating electrons. No gene-encoded secreted ROS scavengers have been reported. Amphibian skin is a ... more |
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| The evolution of flight is the most important feature of birds, and this ability has helped them become one of the most successful groups of vertebrates. However some species have independently lost their ability to fly. The degeneration of flight ability is a long process, and some species remain transitional locomotive models. Most of the energy required for locomotion is supplied by mitochon... more |
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| Many gene-encoded neurotoxins with various functions have been discovered in fish, reptiles, and mammals. A novel 60-residue neurotoxin peptide (anntoxin) that inhibited tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) was purified and characterized from the skin secretions of the tree frog Hyla annectans (Jerdon). This is the first gene-encoded neurotoxin found in amphibians.... more |
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| Pancreatic RNase genes implicated in the adaptation of the colobine monkeys to leaf-eating have long intrigued evolutionary biologists since the identification of a duplicated RNASE1 gene with enhanced digestive efficiencies in Pygathrix nemaeus. The recent emergence of two contrasting hypotheses, i.e., independent duplication and one duplication event hypotheses, make it into focus again. Curr... more |
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