Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
quartz crystal microbalance
Mass sensing technique based on the piezoelectric frequency change due to mass
attached to the quartz crystal.
r
receptor tyrosine kinase
Receptor present at the plasma membrane that harbors intrinsic tyrosine kinase
activity in its intracellular region. Members of this group are capable to trigger
outside-inside signaling upon binding of a ligand to its extracellular region.
retro - peptide
A peptide analog synthesized with its component
L
- amino acids present in
reverse order along the peptide's backbone. It can also be called an inverso-
peptide.
retrosynthesis
A method for purposefully arranging organic chemical synthesis into consecutive
steps. The synthetic strategy is planned in reverse, beginning with the fi nal product,
then in backward steps moving to the starting materials. This procedure fragments
the target molecule into subtargets, which are then fragmented further, all the way
to the starting materials.
s
saccharide
A general synonym for carbohydrate or sugar.
saposin
Sphingolipid activator protein. It extracts membrane- bound glycosphingolipids for
lysosomal degradation or CD1 loading (
see
CD1 protein).
saturation transfer difference (STD) spectroscopy
NMR technique that allows the binding of a particular ligand (or mixture of
ligands) to a large receptor to be monitored, by observing NMR resonance signals
of the ligand following a transfer of energy from the fully saturated receptor. In
particular cases, it can also be used to deduce the ligand-binding epitope and to
estimate binding affi nities and dissociation kinetics.
schistosomiasis (bilharziosis or bilharzia,
named after the German physician
Theodor Bilharz, who described it in 1852)
Disease caused by
Schistosoma
spp., commonly known as blood fl ukes and bilhar-
zia, the most signifi cant infection of humans by fl atworms. It is considered by the
World Health Organization as second in importance only to malaria, with hun-
dreds of millions infected worldwide. Adult worms parasitize mesenteric blood
vessels. Eggs are passed through urine or feces to fresh water, where larval stages
can infect a new host by penetrating the skin.
