Polonium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Po and atomic number 84. A rare radioactive metalloid, polonium is chemically similar to tellurium and bismuth and occurs in uranium ores. Polonium had been studied for possible use in heating spacecraft.

Notable characteristics

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This radioactive substance dissolves readily in dilute acids, but is only slightly soluble in alkalis. It is closely related chemically to bismuth and tellurium. Polonium (in common with 238Pu) has the ability to become airborne with ease. More than one hypothesis exists for how polonium does this; one suggestion that that small clusters of polonium atoms are spalled off by the alpha decay.

N. Momoshima, L.X. Song, S. Osaki and Y. Maeda, Environ Sci Technol. 2001, 35, 2956-2960^* report that microbes can methylate polonium. They also claim that methylcobalamin can also methylate polonium.

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[Mini-Review] Utility of Kallikrein-Related Peptidases (KLKs) as Cancer Biomarkers
Emami, N., Diamandis, E. P. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Background: The human kallikrein-related peptidase (KLK) family consists of 15 highly conserved serine proteases, which are encoded by the largest uninterrupted cluster of protease genes in the human genome. To date, several members of the family have been reported as potential cancer biomarkers. Although primarily known for their biomarker value in prostate, ovarian, and breast cancers, more recent data suggest analogous roles of KLKs in several other cancers, including gastrointestinal, head and neck, lung, and brain malignancies. Among the proposed KLK cancer biomarkers, prostate-specific antigen (also known as KLK3) is the most widely recognized member in urologic oncology. Content: Despite substantial progress in the understanding of the biomarker utility of individual KLKs, the current challenge lies in devising biomarker panels to increase the accuracy of prognosis, prediction of therapy, and diagnosis. To date, multiparametric KLK panels have been proposed for prostate, ovarian, and lung cancers. In addition to their biomarker utility, emerging evidence has revealed a number of critical functional roles for KLKs in the pathogenesis of cancer and their potential use as therapeutic targets. Summary: KLKs have biomarker utility in many cancer types but individually lack sufficient specificity or sensitivity to be used in clinical practice; however, groups of KLKs and other candidate biomarkers may offer improved performance.
[Mini-Review] High-Abundance Polypeptides of the Human Plasma Proteome Comprising the Top 4 Logs of Polypeptide Abundance
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Background: Plasma contains thousands of proteins, but a small number of these proteins comprise the majority of protein molecules and mass. Content: We surveyed proteomic studies to identify candidates for high-abundance polypeptide chains. We searched the literature for information on the plasma concentrations of the most abundant components in healthy adults and for the molecular mass of the mature polypeptide chains in plasma. Because proteomic studies usually dissociate proteins into polypeptide chains or detect short peptide segments of proteins, we summarized data on individual peptide chains for proteins containing multiple subunits or polypeptides. We collected data on about 150 of the most abundant polypeptides in plasma. The abundant polypeptides span approximately the top 4 logs of concentration in plasma, from 650 to 0.06 µmol/L on a molar basis or from about 50 000 to 1 mg/L mass abundance. Conclusions: Data on the concentrations of the high-abundance peptide chains in plasma assist in understanding the composition of plasma and potential approaches for clinical laboratory or proteomic analysis of plasma proteins. Development of more extensive databases regarding the plasma concentrations of proteins in health and diseases would promote diagnostic and proteomic advances.

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