Travis
Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2016
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WTF is PPARΨ?
As you all know, there's a class of prostaglandin receptors called PPARs, an acronym for peroxisome proliferator activator receptors. These things help to create peroxisomes—organelles which metabolize fat. It's not unusual to see these nuclear receptors transcribe mRNA for enzymes such as fatty acid β-oxidase and fatty acid synthase.
I came across this:
Hmm . . . the same ligand as PPARγ. Also, when searching for PPARΨ you get results such as:
This has no Wikipedia page; the GoogleScholar results aren't much better:
Looking back on the original article, it appears as though the authors (or editors) made a switch from the lowercase gamma (γ) in the abstract, to the uppercase phi (ψ) in the body. Quite strange. Even more confusing is that two articles denote it as PPARΨ (psi) while spelling it out as PPAR-gamma—in the very same sentence.
Could this be a problem with one computer program? one editor? Perhaps a compound error created by people citing others? (These three excerpts were printed in different journals.)
If anyone knows why PPAR-gamma should be denoted as PPARΨ I would sure like to know. Any real data on this apparent unicorn would be appreciated.
Try searching for "PPAR-psi:" You will get nothing.
This appears either to be a very obscure historical convention, an HTML bug, or a few scientists confused over Greek letters.
WTF is PPARΨ?
[1] Billoni, Nelly, et al. "Expression of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptors (PPARs) in Human Hair Follicles and PPARa Involvement in Hair Growth." Acta Derm Venereol (2000)
As you all know, there's a class of prostaglandin receptors called PPARs, an acronym for peroxisome proliferator activator receptors. These things help to create peroxisomes—organelles which metabolize fat. It's not unusual to see these nuclear receptors transcribe mRNA for enzymes such as fatty acid β-oxidase and fatty acid synthase.
I came across this:
"PPARΨ is considered to be one of the key actors of the adipocyte differentiation process and its natural ligand 15- deoxy-Δ 12,1 4 prostaglandin J₂ is a potent adipogenesis inducer."
Hmm . . . the same ligand as PPARγ. Also, when searching for PPARΨ you get results such as:
"Anti-inflammatory effects of peroxysome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARψ) in Ccl4-induced hepatitis."
This has no Wikipedia page; the GoogleScholar results aren't much better:
"a specific biomarker for in vivo activation of peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor gamma (PPARψ) activity"
ψ ≠ γ
Looking back on the original article, it appears as though the authors (or editors) made a switch from the lowercase gamma (γ) in the abstract, to the uppercase phi (ψ) in the body. Quite strange. Even more confusing is that two articles denote it as PPARΨ (psi) while spelling it out as PPAR-gamma—in the very same sentence.
Could this be a problem with one computer program? one editor? Perhaps a compound error created by people citing others? (These three excerpts were printed in different journals.)
If anyone knows why PPAR-gamma should be denoted as PPARΨ I would sure like to know. Any real data on this apparent unicorn would be appreciated.
Try searching for "PPAR-psi:" You will get nothing.
This appears either to be a very obscure historical convention, an HTML bug, or a few scientists confused over Greek letters.
WTF is PPARΨ?
[1] Billoni, Nelly, et al. "Expression of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptors (PPARs) in Human Hair Follicles and PPARa Involvement in Hair Growth." Acta Derm Venereol (2000)