WILTIMS #108: It's a kittycholamine!

Meow?

Catecholamines, a class of molecules that includes dopamine and epinephrine, apparently look a lot like a cat to my biochemistry professor. Her drawing from lecture is on the right. It has hydroxyl ears, an amino tail, and electron eyes and whiskers. I didn't see it at first, but now I won't forget their structure anytime soon.

In other news, I touched a 350 year old book today. It was a medical manuscript by Dr. Thomas Willis, after whom the Circle of Willis in brain circulation is named. I actually touched the page with the first image of the aforementioned circle. This is the same book that coined the term neurology. #geekingout

Willis' Cerebri anatome from 1664

TIL: You can decrease hormonal release from the anterior pituitary by adding the unwanted hormones. The anterior pituitary and hypothalamus are part of a portal circulation system, meaning it has two capillary beds in series. This peculiar arrangement is used to monitor and reabsorb any hormones released by the second bed as they arrive back at the first bed. By adding an unwanted hormone upstream, you trick the brain into thinking that it's secreting too much, so it absorbs what it can of the hormone and down-regulates its production.

Kisspeptin is a protein, specifically a G-protein coupled receptor ligand, named for Hershey's Kisses. The molecule was identified at the Penn State College of Medicine, which was established through a grant from Milton Hershey, the founder of the candy company, and is located in Hershey, PA. 

Growth hormone (GH) only affects the last third of adult stature. Put another way, the first 4 feet of a six foot person's growth are due to influences independent of GH. A lack of GH causes pituitary dwarfism (giving a height of about 4ft or ⅔ of 6ft) while an excess can cause gigantism (causing up to a ⅓ increase to 8ft).

George Washington's face, though rarely portrayed as such in paintings, was noticeably scarred by smallpox which he contracted as a young man. When he became commander of the revolutionary forces, he required that the entire continental army be vaccinated, resulting in the lowest infection casualty rate of any army in the world at the time.

John Snow memorial
at the former site of
the Broad Street Pump 

John Snow is not just an ignorant member of the Night's Watch, but one of history's most famous epidemiologists. He was a physician in England who stopped a cholera epidemic by identifying one specific contaminated water source, the now infamous Broad Street pump. At the time it was completely unknown how cholera was spread. He discovered that sewage was contaminating the pump's water source, the River Thames, just upstream of the pumps intake. When they capped the pump, the outbreak immediately ended.

Snow was also famous for popularizing anesthesia. He used calculated doses of chloroform and ether on Queen Victoria for the births of her youngest children, giving the practice unprecedented visibility.

And lastly, Gray's Anatomy (not to be confused with Grey's Anatomy) was pirated by publishers in the United States from its source material in Britain for nearly 50 years, from 1859 to 1908. By the way, just try typing "pirated gray's anatomy" into Google and getting anything related to medical literature. Not easy to research this one.