spermidine

[spur-mi-deen, -din]

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a biogenic polyamine, H 2 N(CH2 ) 4 NH(CH2 ) 3 NH 2 , formed from putrescine, occurring widely in nature and first identified in semen.

Word History and Origins

Origin of spermidine¹

First recorded in 1925–30; sperm- + -idine

Example Sentences

However, administration of all six had a robust effect on the gene-expression pattern, and a similar expression profile could be induced, at least partially, by exposing macrophages to a mixture of just three of the metabolites: spermidine, guanosine monophosphate and inosine monophosphate.

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Spermidine is a type of molecule called a polyamine.

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One possible way to explain this is if the core apoptotic machinery prevents ornithine from entering the mitochondrion and instead diverts it towards spermidine production.

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Production of the molecules spermidine and putrescine becomes higher than normal.

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Medina and colleagues traced the conversion of arginine to spermidine by this pathway, and found that cells induced to undergo apoptosis increased their synthesis of spermidine and its precursor, the molecule putrescine, before dying.

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