Discovery and development of direct thrombin inhibitors the binding site for the globular amino-terminal domain and exosite 1 is the binding site for the acidic carboxy-terminal domain of hirudin. Native hirudin, a 65-amino-acid polypeptide, is produced in the parapharyngeal glands of medicinal leeches. Hirudins today are produced by recombinant biotechnology using yeast. These recombinant hirudins lack a sulfate group at Tyr-63 and are therefore called desulfatohirudins. They have a 10-fold lower binding affinity to thrombin compared to native hirudin, but remain a highly specific inhibitor of thrombin and have an inhibition constant for thrombin in the picomolar range. Renal clearance and degradation account for the most part
DNA damage (naturally occurring) DNA damage (naturally occurring) DNA damage is distinctly different from mutation, although both are types of error in DNA. DNA damage is an abnormal chemical structure in DNA, while a mutation is a change in the sequence of standard base pairs. DNA damages cause changes in the structure of the genetic material and prevents the replication mechanism from functioning and performing properly. DNA damage and mutation have different biological consequences. While most DNA damages can undergo DNA repair, such repair is not 100% efficient. Un-repaired DNA damages accumulate in non-replicating cells, such as cells in the brains or muscles of