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In biochemistry, denaturation is a process in which proteins or nucleic acids lose folded structure present in their native state due to various factors, including application of some external stress or compound, such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), agitation and radiation, or heat. [3]
DNA oxidation is the process of oxidative damage of deoxyribonucleic acid.As described in detail by Burrows et al., [1] 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) is the most common oxidative lesion observed in duplex DNA because guanine has a lower one-electron reduction potential than the other nucleosides in DNA.
Both of these types of alteration can be replicated and passed on to subsequent cell generations. These alterations can change gene function or regulation of gene expression and possibly contribute to progression to cancer. Throughout the cell cycle there are various checkpoints to ensure the cell is in good condition to progress to mitosis.
The HD gene [8] is found in all human genomes. In the event that a slippage event occurs there can be a large expansion in the tandem repeats of the HD gene. [8] An individual who is not affected by Huntington's disease will have 6-35 tandem repeats at the HD locus. However, an affected individual will have 36- 121 repeats present. [7]
Furthermore, one can assess whether the folding proceeds according to a two-state unfolding as described above. This can be done with differential scanning calorimetry by comparing the calorimetric enthalpy of denaturation i.e. the area under the peak, A peak {\displaystyle A_{\text{peak}}} to the van 't Hoff enthalpy described as follows:
The process of gene expression is used by all known life—eukaryotes (including multicellular organisms), prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), and utilized by viruses—to generate the macromolecular machinery for life. In genetics, gene expression is the most fundamental level at which the genotype gives rise to the phenotype, i.e. observable ...
Many of these lesions cause structural damage to the DNA molecule and can alter or eliminate the cell's ability to transcribe the gene that the affected DNA encodes. Other lesions induce potentially harmful mutations in the cell's genome, which affect the survival of its daughter cells after it undergoes mitosis .
Conditional mutations have applications in research as they allow control over gene expression. This is especially useful studying diseases in adults by allowing expression after a certain period of growth, thus eliminating the deleterious effect of gene expression seen during stages of development in model organisms. [98]