A major goal in cell biology is to bridge the gap in our understanding of how molecular mechanisms contribute to cell and organismal physiology. Approaches well established in the physical sciences could be instrumental in achieving this goal. A better integration of the physical sciences with cell biology will therefore be an important step in our quest to decipher how cells work together to c...

Dynamic changes in steroidogenesis occur in ovarian granulosa cells during ovulation after the LH surge. The ovulatory LH surge induces rapid up-regulation of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein and rapid down-regulation of aromatase (Cyp19a1) in granulosa cells undergoing luteinization during ovulation. These rapid changes in StAR and Cyp19a1 gene expression after the LH surge effici...

The molecular mechanisms that finely co-ordinate fibrin formation and fibrinolysis are now well defined. The structure and function of all major fibrinolytic proteins, which include serine proteases, their inhibitors, activators and receptors, have been characterized. Measurements of real time, dynamic molecular interactions during fibrinolysis of whole blood clots can now be carried out in vit...

Both drift and selection are important for nucleotide substitutions in evolution. The nearly neutral theory was developed to clarify the effects of these processes. In this article, the nearly neutral theory is presented with special reference to the nature of weak selection. The mean selection coefficient is negative, and the variance is dependent on the environmental diversity. Some facts rel...

The carcinogenicity (photocarcinogenicity) of sunlight to human skin has been recognized more than a century ago. Last decades numerous experimental studies show that UV rays damage DNA, cause gene mutations leading to the development of malignant tumors such basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and melanomas. The tumors occur most frequently in fair skinned people, and the mutations...

Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity/mortality. The pathogenesis of preeclampsia is still under investigation. The aim of this paper is to present the molecular mechanisms implicating in the pathway leading to preeclampsia.

Pluripotency and self renewal are the two primary characteristics of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) [1]-[4]. Pluripotency refers to the capacity of a single cell to give rise to any cell type of an embryo or an adult animal [5],[6]. A mammalian organism is developed from a single fertilized egg, the zygote, in an extremely ordered and error-proof fashion [7]. The zygote and the subsequent 2 to 4...

Glioma, and in particular high-grade astrocytoma termed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most common primary tumor of the brain. Primarily because of its diffuse nature, there is no effective treatment for GBM, and relatively little is known about the processes by which it develops. Therefore, in order to design novel therapies and treatments for GBM, research has recently intensified to i...