Have you ever…?

I have such a specific function that there are no cells that can ‘come round me’ in Mimi’s body. I am made to contract, all day. All night. Every day, until I die and am replaced, or Mimi dies. And the chances of me getting replaced are slim. Hey, I told you I’m realllll important. 

I’m composed of separate cellular elements. I have a Y shape, a large nucleus and many, many, many mitochondria. The high concentration of mitochondria reflects the large energy demands of predominant the heart. I need all those mitochondria, to give me ATP so I can contract, contract, contract away!!!!!! Contractile proteins of actin and myosin myofilaments are also present in my cytoplasm. I will explain what all these things do, but not just yet. 

I am striated, due to the presence of the myofibrils. Though I have heard other cardiomyocytes say that our cousins, skeletal muscle cells, are similar to us – it is not completely true. We are much smaller, and have only one nucleus. 

I know you have many questions, and I will answer all. But for now, this is all I can tell you. I have included an image, so you can have an idea of what i look like. In reality, I’m much more beautiful. No joke. 

 

Tata bloggers,

xo

 

                                                                 

 

 

I’m only gonna break break yo heart.

I am a myocardiocyte. I’m very proud to be part of such a life sustaining organ, and i work very hard for Mimi to stay alive. 

When she was an embryo, cell differentiation was occuring. I was created from an undifferentiated cell – a stem cell which had the right instructions to make me into what I am today. Mimi, like all mammals, was born with a set number of cardiac muscle cells. I was one of them. (The image below explains it.)

My purpose is to keep Mimi alive. I have one job – and one job only. To contract, without ever getting tired, without ever stopping. I have special adaptations which allow me to do this effectively, but we will talk about these later. 

This is what I am going to be for the rest of my life. Cardiac muscle cells don’t change, don’t evolve, and may not even die. Only about 50% of the cardiac muscle cells Mimi was born with are going to be turned over – and this happens slowly. I have grown though, from the moment that i was born. So have all my friends, and I have made new friends as Mimi became an adult – and I have lost only a few. 

Hopefully, I will die, and stop contracting when Mimi dies. I hope that I am never replaced with another, as I take my job seriously and, hey, I am the best cardiomyocyte in town. 

Talk later, bloggers,

xo

                                              

The animal inside of you…

I am part of a mouse’s body. I belong to a mouse. But I am just a tiny, little part of her. I am one cell, but i play a very important role in keeping Mimi alive. That’s what the humans call my mouse. 

I am a myocardiocyte. 

I live in cardiac muscle tissue, which make up the atria and the ventricles of the heart. I specifically live on the right atrium, with all my friends and family. 

 

 

 

Toodles, bloggers

xo

The Last Song

 

So, in the last few hours of blogging, my phone keeps going off from everyone posting stuff on the biochem fb page. Of course, we bunch of procrastinators lol. Anyway, for this last post i wanted to do two things. One, talk about my experience repeating this course, and two give meaning to some of the words which we are required to know for exams.

Im gonna be backward, and start with number 2 lol:

 

Cell – basic structural and functional unit of all living organisms. 

Carbohydrate – an organic compound which consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

Protein – large biological molecules which are comprised of many amino acid chains.

Enzymes – biological catalysts responsible for the thousands of chemical reactions which sustain life.

Mutarotation – change in the optical rotation that occurs by epimerization.

Zwitterion – neutral molecule, with positive and negative charge at different spots within the molecule.

Denaturation – a process in which proteins (or nucleic acids) lose the tertiary and secondary structure which is present in their native state, by application of some external stress, compound or heat.

Peptide bond – a covalent chemical bond which is formed between two molecules when the carboxyl group of one molecule reacts with the amino group of the other molecule, causing water to be released.

Hemiacetal – compound derived from aldehydes.

Hemiketal – compound derived from ketones.

 

lol na, this course was better than it was last year! thumbs up !!!!!

I do expect to pass this year (LOL) na but seriously though. At first i wasn’t too pleased about the whole blog thing, but doing those multiple choice questions and vid reviews and stuff, you find that one day you actually know this stuff! So, this method really helped me out, no one can come ’round me about anything with factors affecting alpha-helices! (except Mr. Matthew, most likely ) But my point is, the entire course, though very demanding, does help to make us remember things. 

And i do hope, that i would do well in the final exam, as i wish the same for all the other biochemians out there. It ain’t easy. 

But, all is well that ends well.

xoxo

Chloe ❤ 

Je suis malade…

Published paper numero dos 🙂

Vitamin C and Beta-Carotene Might Protect Against Dementia

I chose this paper as I’ve become very much health conscious this year, trying to have a healthy fit lifestyle, and so i decided to do my second published paper on vitamins. This came across, and i figured it’s quite perfect as i did a video review on Alzheimer’s disease, so this fits me perfectly. 

The paper begins by stating the symptoms of dementia…forgetfulness, cognitive decline and lack of orientation. I was particularly attracted to the introduction of this piece, i’m unsure why though. It had an effect on me, and a good enough one that i chose it for this special purpose lol. The researchers from the University of Ulm carried out a research and discovered that the ‘serum-concentration of the antioxidants vitamin c and beta-carotene are significantly lower in patients with mild dementia’ than the control. Thus, it may be possible to influence the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by diet. 

Basically, about 74 AD patients and 158 healthy controls were used for the study; and they were recruited from another study (IMCA ActiFE) from which 1500 elderly patients were examined, They were between 65-90, and had to answer neuropsychological testing, as well as blood testing. The paper explains AD to be a ‘neurodegenerative disease’ where the amyloid-beta-plaques in the brain cause alterations, and the fibrillae degenerate as well as the synapses which, when lost, are held responsible for the characteristic symptoms. This sentence is a perfect explanation of the video i put up, but in scientific jargon that I can fully understand. (5 points to Gryffindor!)

Oxidative stress, which is said to constrain the exploitation of oxygen in our body may help the development of AD. This was something that I was not aware of. Apparently, specific antioxidants can help protect us against neurodegeneration – because in the study AD-patients had lower serum-levels of Vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, lycopene and coenzyme q 10. As much as i liked that the writer kind of explained what AD was, she could have brilliantly put together a sentence or two briefly explaining the important or function of each of those significant substances. (5 points for Slytherin 😦 )

The results apparently were interesting (always good to hear interesting in science). Again, the fact is the AD patients have significantly lower antioxidants concentration in their serum when compared to control subjects. It is important to say that ‘no difference between the groups could be found’ other than antioxidants. They did, however consider other factors (age, sex, BMI, education, etc…) and that storage and preparation of food may affect or influence the findings –  which is just them saying that to be safe. (we write labs, we know how it is lol) 

And as such, they conclude that more studies and research need to be done. But, essentially, this piece has explained to me a few things and reinforced a lot. I think the write could have been more thorough, but i still like and appreciate the piece. 

Science Daily, IOS Press BV (2012, September 11). Vitamin C and beta-carotene might protect against dementia. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 13, 2013, from

http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2012/09/120911103040.htm 

 

xoxo

This is ….. awesome!

http://ibbiology.wetpaint.com/page/Explain+the+link+reaction

This is a nice site which explains the link reaction, also has a youtube video.

Really liked it, helped me fully understand it as well as picturing it.

Night night guys. I am beat. Will write more interesting stuff tomoro, i know my last couples post have sucked. Sorry, my courses are getting to me, and im fighting hard. Please remember to eat properly – very important.

Best

xoxo

Party people say!

<a href=" ” title=”Party people say!”>Party people say!

Hello, i don’t have much to say…..but i made a wordle to express all those things we should know by now. If there’s a word here that is new to you, then 

Lol, not every word from this course would be there, obviously, but mostly things that encompass this beautiful course of biochemistry 1. Yes, nex semester the fun continues -_-

Therefore, i hope you guys all pass!

xoxo

Almost Lover…

Hey guys,

I’m completely and entirely exhausted, and it’s only tuesday -____-

This week i have sooo many coursework exams and presentations and that’s not even for all my courses! Such a hard second to last week jed. 😦 anyway to make it easier for the studying, even though Our Hokage is an excellent lecturer, this is a site that may help you get that extra practice to get that A.

All the best. xo

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/16qLJ5/www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/biochemistry.html/

Get you love drunk off my hump!

Here’s a quick revision for all you guys, on cells. Not hard at all. 

 

Across
2. Invented the compound microscope
4. Basic unit of structure and function in living organisms
5. Distinct part of a cell which has a particular structure and function
7. Fine threads which link the cytoplasm of neighbouring cells through the cell wall
10. Showed that all cells arise from pre-existing cells by cell division
11. Site for photosynthesis
12. Deal primarily with endogenous proteins
13. Shipping centre
Down
1. Produced by Schleiden and Schwann
3. Contains DNA and controls cellular activities
6. Made up of microtubules, microfilaments, intermediate filaments
7. Contain oxidative enzymes that degrade fatty acids and amino acids
8. System of flattened membrane-bounded sacs
9. Produces energy

Alrighty, any comments are always appreciated!

xoxo

 

Yummi in my tummi….

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/51AoQr/www.youtube.com/watch?v=txkRCIPSsjM/

If you ever wondered how dangerous gummy bears are….take a look.

Very random video.

Slight scary.

Chemistry rocks.

xo