acridine the parent compound of a series of derivatives, e.g. 3,6-diaminoacridine (proflavin), that are potent mutagens. Some acridines are found in coal tar. They induce frameshift mutations during the replication of DNA by binding to DNA and distorting the double helix, causing additional bases to be incorporated or bases to be omitted. They are used
ackee or akee a tree, Blighia sapida, native to tropical Africa and widely cultivated in the West Indies, especially Jamaica, for its fruit, the fleshy aril of which is edible when cooked and forms an important item of local diet. Unripe fruits contain toxic amounts of hypoglycin and can cause Jamaican vomiting sickness.
acid phosphatase , systematic name: orthophosphoric monoester phosphohydrolase (acid optimum); other names: alkaline phosphomonoesterase; phosphomonoesterase; glycerophosphatase; a lysosomal enzyme (except in red cells). It catalyses the hydrolysis of orthophosphoric monoester to an alcohol and orthophosphate. Zinc and magnesium are cofactors. It is present in high concentrations in the prostate gland, and is also present in