The Cell
The cell is the smallest unit of living things. All living things are made of cells.
The discovery of the cell is credited to a scientist named Robert Hooke.
There are two kinds of cell: eukaryotic and prokaryotic. Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus and prokaryotic cells do not.
For more information on cells, go to:
Oxygen
Oxygen is an element. It is pivotal in many kinds of life.
Energy creation processes are split into two groups based on whether or not oxygen is present. These conditions are aerobic (with oxygen) and anerobic (without oxygen) metabolisms.
Under conditions humans consider normal, normoxic conditions, the gaseous environment is made up of 21% oxygen. Under hypoxic, or low oxygen conditions, there can be anywhere from 0 to 5% oxygen in the environment.
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The Nucleus
The nucleus is the membrane-bound region of a eukaryotic cell that contains the cellular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA, shown here in green, contians all the genetic information of an organism. The DNA is contained in the nuclleus by a phospholipid bilayer shown in red.
For more information on the nucleus, go to:
mRNA
Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is an RNA copy of a gene transcribed from DNA. Each molecule of mRNA encodes a protein. Which mRNA molecules are transcribed regulate which proteins are present in the cell.
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Translation Machinery
Translation machinery includes all the protein parts that play a role in translation. This machinery differs between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells.
To learn about the process of translation, use the "Translation" tab at the top of the page.
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HIF-1 Alpha
Hypoxia inducible factor 1 Alpha (HIF-1 Alpha) is a transcription factor involved in the regulation transcription in response to hypoxic conditions. HIF-1 Alpha is an oxygen sensitive protein that is degraded in the presence of oxygen. When oxygen is not present, HIF-1 Alpha is not degraded and can combine with ARNT to alter transcription of target genes.
To learn more about HIF-1 Alpha, use the "HIF-1 Alpha" tab at the top of the page
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Hydroxylase
This protein represents a class of hydroxylases that modify HIF-1 Alpha in response to oxygen.
Hydroxylation of HIF-1 Alpha targets HIF-1 Alpha for ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation.
For more information on this protein and these processes, go to:
Proteasome
The proteasome is a protein complex that degrades proteins.
To learn about proteasomes, go to:
ARNT
ARNT is the protein that HIF-1 Alpha binds to under hypoxic conditions.
This protein is a nuclear translocator which means that it allows for HIF-1 Alpha to enter the nucleus.
ARNT is also known as HIF-1 Beta.
To find out more about ARNT, go to:
