Coagulation Disorders… Factor VII 7 Jun 2018 Factor VII is a vitamin K dependent coagulation factor. It is a serine protease. Activation of factor VII is the first step in the coagulation cascade. Deficiency is rare and…
Anti-coagulants… Vitamin K 6 Jun 20186 Jun 2018 Vitamin K was discovered by Henrik Dam in 1929 while studying cholesterol metabolism in chicken (see Discovery of Vitamin K and It's Targets and Antagonists). It is a co-factor for post translation…
Causes of Disease… Heme Synthesis 3 Aug 20177 Aug 2017 Heme, a porphyrin, is a co-factor in haemoglobin, myoglobin, cytochrome, catalase, heme peroxidase, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase. It has a complex structure with four pyrrole rings with a ferrous…
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia… The BCR-ABL1 Gene 27 Sep 20153 Dec 2015 BCR-ABL1 is a fusion gene formed as a result of the t(9;22)(q34;q11) chromosomal translocation, the translocation that results in the formation of the Philadelphia chromosome. The Abelson murine leukaemia viral…
Genetics… Dominant-Negative Phenotype 3 Jan 2015 The human genome has two alleles of any gene. An allele may be dominant, recessive or co-domainant. Only one copy of an allele is needed for a dominant allele to…
aPTT… Factor XII 24 Dec 2014 Factor XII is a coagulation factor that initiates the intrinsic (contact) coagulation system. It is for this reason that it is also known as contact factor. It was described in…
Bleeding Disorders… Factor XI 14 Dec 2014 Factor XI, also known as plasma thromboplastin antecedent, is a zymogen of factor XIa. It is involved in activation of the intrinsic coagulation pathway. Unlike factor XII, prekallikrein and high-molecular…
Haemachromatosis… Transferrin and Transferrin Receptors 27 Sep 2014 Free iron is toxic by its ability to generate oxygen free radicals and cause damage to macromolecules. Iron in transported in the plasma bound to transferrin. Uptake of transferrin by the…
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia… Hyperleukocytosis and Leukostasis 10 Jul 20146 Sep 2017 Leukostasis is a oncological emergency seen in patients with leukaemia who present with pronounced leucocytosis. It is seen in about 5-30% of adult acute leukaemia cases. It results from slugging of microcirculation…
Pathogenesis of Disease… Proteasome 1 Jun 201420 Feb 2017 Proteasome Cell catabolise proteins by two pathways, lysosome and proteasome. Proteasome is an ATP dependent pathway that plays a critical role in growth and development of the cell by degrading…