Discovery
The sEH was first identified in the cytosolic fraction of mouse liver through its activity on epoxide containing substrates such as juvenile hormone and lipid epoxides such as epoxystearate. The soluble EH activity was shown to be distinct from that of the microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) previously discovered with a different substrate selectivity and cellular localization than the mEH. Studies using a lipid epoxide as a substrate detected this activity in the soluble fraction of multiple organs, though at a lesser amount than in liver and kidney. The enzyme activity was detected in rabbits, mice and rats, and humans, and it is now believed to be ubiquitous in vertebrates. The proposed enzyme was first named cytosolic epoxide hydrolase; however, after its discovery inside the peroxisomes of some organs, it was renamed soluble epoxide hydrolase or sEH.
Read more about this topic: Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase
Famous quotes containing the word discovery:
“The virtues of society are vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast away our virtues, or what we have always esteemed such, into the same pit that has consumed our grosser vices.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and expect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and extraneous laws. The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“As the mother of a son, I do not accept that alienation from me is necessary for his discovery of himself. As a woman, I will not cooperate in demeaning womanly things so that he can be proud to be a man. I like to think the women in my son’s future are counting on me.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)