Endocrine Abstracts

The song ‘Money makes the world go round’ could have been written for biological scientists, because it is hard to conceive of a research project in endocrinology that could proceed without many thousands of pounds in funding. This means that a key skill for career scientists is the ability to write successful research grants. Despite government assurances of increased budgets for scientific research, the reality is that within the environment of responsive mode gran...

Introduction: Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored proteins are common on the surfaces of eukaryotic cells. An example is alkaline phosphatase. Fluorescently Labelled Aerolysin (FLAER) is a bacterial toxin produced by the gram-negative bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila that binds naturally to GPI anchored proteins and utilizes them as receptors to cause cytotoxicity. FLAER has been used to discriminate the GPI deficient red blood cells in cases of paroxysmal nocturn...