Breast carcinoma represents the second leading cause of cancer death in developed countries amongst women. Current cytotoxic chemotherapy plays an important role in the management of patients with hormone-insensitive ...Breast carcinoma represents the second leading cause of cancer death in developed countries amongst women. Current cytotoxic chemotherapy plays an important role in the management of patients with hormone-insensitive or metastatic breast carcinoma, although most of them ultimately develop recurrences. Therefore, there is a need for novel targets and treatment strategies in patients with advanced breast carcinoma that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy. This paper summarizes current knowledge on breast cancer targets and molecular mechanisms that follows apoptosis induction.展开更多
A 3-D electrostatic density map generated using the Wavefront Topology System and Finite Element Method clearly demonstrates the non-uniformity and periodicity present in even a single loop of an α-helix. The four di...A 3-D electrostatic density map generated using the Wavefront Topology System and Finite Element Method clearly demonstrates the non-uniformity and periodicity present in even a single loop of an α-helix. The four dihedral angles (N-C*-C-N, C*-C-N-C*, and C-N-C*-C) fully define a helical shape independent of its length: the three dihedral angles, φ = -33.5°, ω = 177.3°, and Ψ = -69.4°, generate the precise (and identical) redundancy in a one loop (or longer) α-helical shape (pitch = 1.59 /residue;r = 2.25 ). Nevertheless the pattern of dihedral angles within an 11 and a 22-peptide backbone atom sequence cannot be distributed evenly because the stoichiometry in fraction of four atoms never divides evenly into 11 or 22 backbone atoms. Thus, three sequential sets of 11 backbone atoms in an α-helix will have a discretely different chemical formula and correspondingly different combinations of molecular forces depending upon the assigned starting atom in an 11-step sequence. We propose that the unit cell of one loop of an α-helix occurs in the peptide backbone sequence C-(N-C*-C)3-N which contains an odd number of C* plus even number of amide groups. A two-loop pattern (C*-C-N)7-C* contains an even number of C* atoms plus an odd number of amide groups. Dividing the two-loop pattern into two equal lengths, one fraction will have an extra half amide (N-H) and the other fraction will have an extra half amide C=O, i.e., the stoichiometry of each half will be different. Also, since the length of N-C*-C-N, C*-C-N-C*, and C-N-C*-C are unequal, the summation of the number of each in any fraction of n loops of an α-helix in sequence will always have unequal length, depending upon the starting atom (N, C*, or C).展开更多
文摘Breast carcinoma represents the second leading cause of cancer death in developed countries amongst women. Current cytotoxic chemotherapy plays an important role in the management of patients with hormone-insensitive or metastatic breast carcinoma, although most of them ultimately develop recurrences. Therefore, there is a need for novel targets and treatment strategies in patients with advanced breast carcinoma that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy. This paper summarizes current knowledge on breast cancer targets and molecular mechanisms that follows apoptosis induction.
文摘A 3-D electrostatic density map generated using the Wavefront Topology System and Finite Element Method clearly demonstrates the non-uniformity and periodicity present in even a single loop of an α-helix. The four dihedral angles (N-C*-C-N, C*-C-N-C*, and C-N-C*-C) fully define a helical shape independent of its length: the three dihedral angles, φ = -33.5°, ω = 177.3°, and Ψ = -69.4°, generate the precise (and identical) redundancy in a one loop (or longer) α-helical shape (pitch = 1.59 /residue;r = 2.25 ). Nevertheless the pattern of dihedral angles within an 11 and a 22-peptide backbone atom sequence cannot be distributed evenly because the stoichiometry in fraction of four atoms never divides evenly into 11 or 22 backbone atoms. Thus, three sequential sets of 11 backbone atoms in an α-helix will have a discretely different chemical formula and correspondingly different combinations of molecular forces depending upon the assigned starting atom in an 11-step sequence. We propose that the unit cell of one loop of an α-helix occurs in the peptide backbone sequence C-(N-C*-C)3-N which contains an odd number of C* plus even number of amide groups. A two-loop pattern (C*-C-N)7-C* contains an even number of C* atoms plus an odd number of amide groups. Dividing the two-loop pattern into two equal lengths, one fraction will have an extra half amide (N-H) and the other fraction will have an extra half amide C=O, i.e., the stoichiometry of each half will be different. Also, since the length of N-C*-C-N, C*-C-N-C*, and C-N-C*-C are unequal, the summation of the number of each in any fraction of n loops of an α-helix in sequence will always have unequal length, depending upon the starting atom (N, C*, or C).
