The “icefish paradox.” Which is the task of neuroglobin in Antarctic hemoglobin-less icefish?

The "icefish paradox." Which is the task of neuroglobin in Antarctic hemoglobin-less icefish?

Is There an Answer? is intended to serve as a forum in which readers to IUBMB Life may pose questions of the type that intrigue biochemists but for which there may be no obvious answer or one may be available but not widely known or easily accessible. Readers are invited to e-mail [email protected] if they have questions to contribute or if they can provide answers to questions that are provi...

Biophysical Characterisation of Neuroglobin of the Icefish, a Natural Knockout for Hemoglobin and Myoglobin. Comparison with Human Neuroglobin

The Antarctic icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus lacks the globins common to most vertebrates, hemoglobin and myoglobin, but has retained neuroglobin in the brain. This conserved globin has been cloned, over-expressed and purified. To highlight similarities and differences, the structural features of the neuroglobin of this colourless-blooded fish were compared with those of the well characterised...

The ICEFISH Cruise Symposium

A New APEH Cluster with Antioxidant Functions in the Antarctic Hemoglobinless Icefish Chionodraco hamatus

Acylpeptide hydrolase (APEH) is a ubiquitous cytosolic protease that plays an important role in the detoxification of oxidised proteins. In this work, to further explore the physiological role of this enzyme, two apeh cDNAs were isolated from the Chionodraco hamatus icefish, which lives in the highly oxygenated Antarctic marine environment. The encoded proteins (APEH-1(Ch) and APEH-2(Ch)) were ...

Genome Evolution in the Cold: Antarctic Icefish Muscle Transcriptome Reveals Selective Duplications Increasing Mitochondrial Function

Antarctic notothenioids radiated over millions of years in subzero waters, evolving peculiar features, such as antifreeze glycoproteins and absence of heat shock response. Icefish, family Channichthyidae, also lack oxygen-binding proteins and display extreme modifications, including high mitochondrial densities in aerobic tissues. A genomic expansion accompanying the evolution of these fish was...