Evolutionary role

Production of ROS is associated with deafness in animals and humans. It appears that carnosine can suppress loss of hearing induced by antibiotics and other agents, although it is uncertain as to the precise mechanisms involved (Zhuravskii et ah, 2004a,b). Early studies had shown, however, that carnosine exhibited excitatory activity to the afferent fibers in the lateral line organ of frogs (Mroz and Sewell, 1989 Panzanelli et ah, 1994) which may indicate an evolutionary role of the dipeptide in sound detection. 

Behavioral and evolutionary roles of cuticular hydrocarbons in Diptera... 

Behavioral and evolutionary roles in Diptera Interspecific variation and evolutionary effects... 

P-450s carry out aliphatic and aromatic hydroxylat-ions, aromatic epoxidations (leading to stable epoxides like dieldrin from aldrin, or arene oxides), 0-, N-, and S-dealkylations and oxidations, oxidative deaminations, and desulfurations among other reactions. Although the primary evolutionary role of the P-450 enzymes is to convert hydrophobic xenobiotics into more hydrophilic compounds and enhance their removal from the body, P-450s also catalyze reactions that lead to more reactive (and hence toxic) compounds. Several xenobiotics are converted into potential carcinogens via the cytochrome P-450 system. 

A clear evolutionary role for SAgs in the persistence and survival of the bacterial pathogen remains elusive, yet since these toxins target both TCR and MHC class II molecules, it is clear that they must be involved in the subversion of the immune system. Relatively low affinities (Kd values of approx. 10-4— 1 O 6 m) and fast association and dissociation kinetics (> 104 m 1 s 1 and > 102 s 1, respectively) of SAgs for the TCR (3-chains [33] seem to mimic those of conventional TCR-MHC class II peptide interactions. It seems as though... 

It has been proposed that antibiotics and other secondary metabolites, originally produced by chemical (non-enzymatic) reactions, played important evolutionary roles in effecting and modulating prehistoric reactions (e.g., primitive transcription and translation) by reacting with receptor sites in primi-... 

Thompson, J.J., Tabatabaei Ghomi, H., Lill, M.A. Application of information theory to a three-body coarse-grained representation of proteins in the PDB insights into the structural and evolutionary roles of residues in protein structure. Proteins, 82, 3450-3465 (2014)... 

Of the two remaining essential elements treated in the chapters of this work—selenium and manganese—no very specific effects of deficiency are seen in the brain. In fact, the ataxia of manganese deficiency turns out to arise from malformation of the otoliths of the inner ear. Selenium deficiency leads to reduced activity of glutathione peroxidase and may give rise to formation of lipid perxjxides, but such effects in brain are not well-documented. Frxjm the range of functions mentioned for the different trace elements, it is apparent that specificity rather than conformity is the key to the evolutionary roles of these substances. 

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