A fraction of the body's creatine and creatine phosphate spontaneously degrades to creatinine, which is excreted by the kidneys. In humans, this amounts to approximately 1-2 g/day and demands a comparable rate of de novo creatine synthesis. This is a two-step process in which l-arginine:glycine amidinotransferase (AGAT) catalyzes the conversion of glycine and arginine to ornithine and guanidino...

The ability of gecko lizards and many insects to climb vertical surfaces relies on the hierarchical microand nanofibrillar arrayed features on their feet. The fibrillar structures provide conformal contact with the opposing surfaces to maximize the van der Waals (vdW) interactions. These adhesive systems found in nature have inspired researchers to design synthetic adhesives by using fibrillar ...

In this article, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures of different shapes were fabricated on silicon substrate. Well-aligned and long ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays, as well as leaf-like ZnO nanostructures (which consist of modulated and single-phase structures), were fabricated by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method without the assistance of a catalyst. On the other hand, needle-like ZnO NW arrays w...

We report a non-lithographical method for the fabrication of ultra-thin silicon (Si) nanowire (NW) and nano-sheet arrays through metal-assisted-chemical-etching (MacEtch) with gold (Au). The mask used for metal patterning is a vertical InAs NW array grown on a Si substrate via catalyst-free, strain-induced, one-dimensional heteroepitaxy. Depending on the Au evaporation angle, the shape and size...

Most chronic renal failure (CRF) patients show low serum concentrations of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA). In this study, the author investigated the impaired metabolism of GAA in CRF focusing on the transformation of arginine (Arg) to GAA by analyzing CRF rabbits using 14C-Arg. The CRF group which consisted of 6 CRF rabbits, was compared with 6 normal rabbits (normal group). Blood samples were obt...

It is reported that gossypol acetate (GAA) has obvious effects on inhibiting the growth of tumors, by inhibiting the activity of enzymes. Ultrastructural study showed that GAA can cause morphological changes of mitochondria which leads to the apoptosis of tumors. However, little is known about the pathways that how the GAA triggers apoptosis of tumors and what kind of the molecular events have ...

Glycogen storage disease type II (GSDII) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency in acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA), and leads to cardiorespiratory failure by the age of 2 years. In this study, we investigate the impact of anti-GAA antibody formation on cross-correction of the heart, diaphragm, and hind-limb muscles from liver-directed delivery of recombinant adeno-associated virus (...

The bulk MOSFET scaling has recently encountered significant limitations, mainly related to the gate oxide (SiO2) leakage currents (Gusev et al., 2006; Taur et al., 1997), the large increase of parasitic short channel effects and the dramatic mobility reduction (Fischetti & Laux, 2001) due to highly doped Silicon substrates precisely used to reduce these short channel effects. Technological sol...

Pompe disease is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a deficiency of acid α-glucosidase (GAA), an enzyme responsible for hydrolyzing lysosomal glycogen. Deficiency of GAA leads to systemic glycogen accumulation in the lysosomes of skeletal muscle, motor neurons, and smooth muscle. Skeletal muscle and motor neuron pathology are known to contribute to respiratory insufficiency in Pompe dise...