âThatâs something we can test. If it does, caspase-1 inhibitors mightâand I emphasize mightâbecome a component of a curative cocktail.â G. Doitsh et al., âCell death by pyroptosis drives CD4 T-cell depletion in HIV-1 infection,â Nature, doi:10.1038/nature12940, 2013.
Decades ago it was believed that a cascade of enzymes controls the activity of HMG-CoA reductase: an HMG-CoA reductase kinase was thought to inactivate the enzyme, and the kinase in turn was held to be activated via phosphorylation by HMG-CoA reductase kinase kinase.
In chemistry, phosphorylation of a molecule is the attachment of a phosphoryl group. Together with its counterpart, dephosphorylation, it is critical for many cellular processes in biology. Phosphorylation is especially important for protein function, as this modification activates almost half of the enzymes, thereby regulating their function. Many proteins are phosphorylated temporarily, as are many sugars, lipids, and other molecules. Protein phosphorylation is considered the most abundant pos