OBJECTIVE To provide information about the complexity of skin-derived mammalian allergen extracts and recent advances made in their characterization and production. DATA SOURCES Original and review articles (involving nonfood allergy to mammals) published in indexed journals were searched in the PubMed database. STUDY SELECTIONS Studies were selected with the following criteria: novelty, sp...

The complete genome sequence of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans provides an excellent basis for studying the distribution and evolution of protein families in higher eukaryotes. Three fundamental questions are as follows: How many paralog clusters exist in one species, how many of these are shared with other species, and how many proteins can be assigned a functional counterpart in other sp...

Australia is the continent with the taxonomically most diverse mammal fauna. The approximately 300 species of Australian terrestrial mammals belong to the three extant mammalian subclasses the Monotremata (Prototheria egg-laying mammals, 2 species), Marsupialia (Metatheria pouched mammals, ~160 species), and Placentalia (Eutheria placental mammals, bats ~76 species, rodents ~65 species) (Menkho...

Enrichment has become a key aspect of captive husbandry practices as means improving animal welfare by increasing environmental stimuli. However, the enrichment methods that are most effective varies both between and within species, thus evaluation underpins successful programs. typically based upon previously reported successes those primarily with mammals, one main goals research being to fac...

The mammalian brain varies in size by a factor of 100,000 and is composed of anatomically and functionally distinct structures. Theoretically, the manner in which brain composition can evolve is limited, ranging from highly modular ("mosaic evolution") to coordinated changes in brain structure size ("concerted evolution") or anything between these two extremes. There is a debate about the relat...

Sulfated fucans are among the most widely studied of all the sulfated polysaccharides of non-mammalian origin that exhibit biological activities in mammalian systems. Examples of these polysaccharides extracted from echinoderms have simple structures, composed of oligosaccharide repeating units within which the residues differ by specific patterns of sulfation among different species. In contra...

The asymmetric unit membrane (AUM) forms the apical plaques of mammalian urothelium and is believed to play a role in strengthening the urothelial apical surface thus preventing the cells from rupturing during bladder distention. We have shown previously that purified bovine AUMs contain four major integral membrane proteins: the uroplakins Ia (27 kDa), Ib (28 kDa), II (15 kDa), and III (47 kDa...

Bats can use a wide range of roosts as hibernacula, resulting in diverse hibernation strategies. The ecological needs species during translate into particular torpor-arousal patterns and physiological demands. For mammalian hibernators, the oxidation fatty acids from triacylglycerols stored white brown adipocytes provides main energy to fuel hibernation. relative content saturated, monounsatura...

κ-casein is a glycosilated protein belonging to a family of phosphoproteins (αs1,β, αs2,κ) that represents the major protein component in mammalian milk. κ-casein plays an essential role in the case of micelle stabilization, determining the size and the specific biological function. In the present study, we report the characterization of the partial sequence of κ-casein promoter region in the I...

κ-casein is a glycosilated protein belonging to a family of phosphoproteins (αs1,β, αs2,κ) that represents the major protein component in mammalian milk. κ-casein plays an essential role in the case of micelle stabilization, determining the size and the specific biological function. In the present study, we report the characterization of the partial sequence of κ-casein promoter region in the I...