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Intelectins are lectins expressed in humans and other chordates. Humans express two types of intelectins encoded by ITLN1 and ITLN2 genes respectively. Several intelectins bind microbe-specific carbohydrate residues. Therefore, intelectins have been proposed to function as immune lectins. Even though intelectins contain fibrinogen-like domain found in the ficolins family of immune lectins, there is significant structural divergence. Thus, intelectins may not function through the same lectin-complement pathway. Most intelectins are still poorly characterized and they may have diverse biological roles. Human intelectin-1 (hIntL-1) has also been shown to bind lactoferrin, but the functional consequence has yet to be elucidated. Additionally, hIntL-1 is a major component of asthmatic mucus and may be involved in insulin physiology as well.
Alexei Verkhratsky, sometimes spelled Alexej, is a professor of neurophysiology at the University of Manchester best known for his research on the physiology and pathophysiology of neuroglia, calcium signalling, and brain ageing. He is an elected member and vice-president of Academia Europaea, of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, of the Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia (Spain), of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, of Polish Academy of Sciences, and Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, among others. Since 2010. he is a Ikerbasque Research Professor and from 2012 he is deputy director of the Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience in Bilbao. He is a distinguished professor at Jinan University, China Medical University of Shenynag, and Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is an editor-in-chief of Cell Calcium, receiving editor for Cell Death and Disease, and Acta Physiologica and member of editorial board of many academic journals.
References
- ↑ Winfree AT. (2001). The Geometry of Biological Time. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- ↑ Murray JD. (2003). Mathematical Biology II: Spatial models and biomedical applications. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- ↑ Davidenko JM, Pertsov AV, Salomonsz R, Baxter W, Jalife J (1992). "Stationary and drifting spiral waves of excitation in isolated cardiac muscle". Nature. 355: 349–351. doi:10.1038/355349a0. PMID 1731248.
- ↑ Gorelova NA, Bures J (1983). "Spiral waves of spreading depression in the isolated chicken retina". J Neurobiol. 14: 353–363. doi:10.1002/neu.480140503. PMID 6619832.
- ↑ Lechleiter J, Girard S, Peralta E, Clapham D (1991). "Spiral calcium wave propagation and annihilation in Xenopus laevis oocytes". Science. 252: 123–126. doi:10.1126/science.2011747. PMID 2011747.
- ↑ Verkhratsky A, Orkand RK, Kettenmann H (1998). "Glial calcium: homeostasis and signaling function". Physiol. Rev. 78: 99–141. doi:10.1152/physrev.1998.78.1.99. PMID 9457170.
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