| alpha-fetoproteins | Increases in maternal blood during pregnancy and, when detected by amniocentesis, is an important indicator of open neural tube defects and is also used as a tumour marker in adults with hepatocellular carcinoma, beta-fetoproteins, although a foetal liver protein, has been detected in adult patients with liver disease, gamma-fetoproteins occurs in various neoplasms. See: fetoglobulins. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| alpha fibres | Large somatic motor or proprioceptive nerve fibre's conducting impulses at rates near 100 m/sec. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alpha-fucosidase | <enzyme> An enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of an an alpha-l-fucoside, producing an alcohol and l-fucose; a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme will result in fucosidosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alpha-galactosidase | <enzyme> An enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of terminal, non-reducing alpha-d-galactose residues in alpha-galactosides including galactose oligosaccharides, galactomannans, and galactolipids. Chemical name: alpha-D-Galactoside galactohydrolase Registry number: EC 3.2.1.22 (12 Dec 1998) |
| alpha-globulin | <protein> The serum globulins with the most rapid electrophoretic migration, further subdivided into faster alpha(1)- and slower alpha(2)-globulins. (12 Dec 1998) |
| alpha-glucan branching glycosyltransferase | 1,4-alpha-d-glucan branching enzyme |
| alpha-glucan phosphorylase | <enzyme> Enzyme that catalyses the sequential removal of glycosyl residues from glycogen to yield one glucose-1-phosphate per reaction. Its activity is controlled by phosphorylation (by phosphorylase kinase). (21 Jun 2000) |
| alpha glucosidase | <enzyme> An enzyme which removes the last 1,4-linked alpha-D-glucose residue from the nonreducing end of a long chain (or polymer) of such residues, making an alpha-D-glucose molecule out of it in the process. (09 Oct 1997) |
| alpha-glucosidases | <enzyme> Enzymes that catalyze the exohydrolysis of 1,4-alpha-glucosidic linkages with release of alpha-glucose. Chemical name: alpha-D-Glucoside glucohydrolases Registry number: EC 3.2.1.20 (12 Dec 1998) |
| alpha granule | A granule of an alpha cell that was named as the first of several kinds or because it was acidophilic. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alpha helix | <molecular biology> A particular helical folding of the polypeptide backbone in protein molecules (both fibrous and globular), in which the carbonyl oxygens are all hydrogen bonded to amide nitrogen atoms three residues along the chain. The translation of amino acid residues along the long axis is 0.15 nm and the rotation per residue, 100 |
| alpha-hydroxyethylthiamin pyrophosphate | The activated form of acetaldehyde that is formed during the decarboxylation of active pyruvate. Formed in alcohol fermentation and in carbohydrate metabolism. Synonym: a-hydroxyethylthiamin pyrophosphate. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alpha-hydroxyglycine amidating dealkylase | <enzyme> From bovine neurointermediate pituitary; catalyses the conversion of alpha-hydroxybenzoylglycine to benzamide and glycolytic acid Registry number: EC 1.14.99.- Synonym: hgad-ase (26 Jun 1999) |
| alpha interferon | <cytokine> Interferon which is released by leukocytes in response to a viral infection. A protein cytokine that is used as an anticancer agent. (15 Nov 1997) |
| alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase | See: alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase. Anaerobic dehydrogenase, an enzyme (usually a pyridinoenzyme) catalyzing the transfer of hydrogen from some metabolite to some acceptor molecule (e.g., NAD+, cytochrome) other than oxygen; e.g., lactate dehydrogenase's, isocitrate dehydrogenase's, and others in EC class 1, excluding those listed under aerobic dehydrogenase. (05 Mar 2000) |