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BIO 317 > 26 - Nature, Nurture, and Epigenetic Regulation > Flashcards

26 - Nature, Nurture, and Epigenetic Regulation Flashcards

1
Q

What does “epigenetics” mean?

A

Above the genome

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2
Q

What are some processes involved in epigenetics?

A

Histone acetylation, histone methylation, and DNA methylation

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3
Q

True or false: histone acetylation, histone methylation, and DNA methylation are all distinct events

A

False: they are all interconnected

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4
Q

What is epigenetics?

A

Modifications on the genome

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5
Q

How come epigenetics is interconnected?

A

The proteins and enzymes that carry out histone acetylation, histone methylation, and DNA methylation are all influenced by the state of histones/DNA

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6
Q

What can you say about genes that are packed in heterochromatin?

A

They are not expressed

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7
Q

What can you say about genes that are packed in euchromatin?

A

They are expressed

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8
Q

What does the chemical modifications of histones/DNA influence?

A

Chromatin structure, and gene expression

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9
Q

What happens during histone acetylation?

A

Acetyl groups are added to lysines on histone tails

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10
Q

What is the charge on lysine?

A

Positive

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11
Q

What is the effect of histone acetylation?

A

Loosens chromatin structure, thus allowing for transcription

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12
Q

What is the effect of histone methylation?

A

It condenses chromatin

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13
Q

What is the effect of phosphorylation of histone methylation?

A

If it is next to a methyl group, it can promote transcription by loosening chromatin structure

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14
Q

When can phosphorylation lead to loosening chromatin structure?

A

When it is next to a methylated amino acid

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15
Q

True or false: epigenetic information can be inherited

A

True: these modifications can be inherited through DNA replication

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16
Q

What is epigenetic inheritance?

A

The transmission of information that is not in the DNA sequence

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17
Q

Where do modified histones go during DNA replication?

A

To both duplicated chromosomes

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18
Q

True or false: chromatin modifications alter the DNA sequence

A

False: they alter the epigenome, not the DNA sequence itself

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19
Q

Where does DNA tend to be methylated?

A

At CpG sites

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20
Q

What is a CpG site?

A

A cysteine adjacent to a guanine

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21
Q

What is the importance of a CpG site?

A

It is the site where DNA is most likely methylated

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22
Q

What does DNMT stand for?

A

DNA methyltransferase

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23
Q

What does DNMT do?

A

Adds a methyl group to DNA

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24
Q

True or false: location in the nucleus does not influence transcription

A

False: the location can also influence transcription

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25
What is the usual state of perinuclear heterochromatin?
Usually silenced
26
How can perinuclear heterochromatin be expressed?
By being close to nuclear pores
27
How come perinuclear heterochromatin close to pores can be expressed?
They are close to activator systems
28
What do activator systems in the nucleus do?
Recruit transferases to open up heterochromatin
29
Where are activator systems found?
Close to nuclear pores
30
What can you say about chromatin right around the nucleolus?
It tends to be silenced
31
True or false: the chromatin structure is the same throughout the nucleus
False: the structure can alter throughout the nucleus
32
What is a transcriptional factory?
A place where multiple genes from different chromosomes can be transcribed together
33
How are multiple genes on different chromosomes transcribed together?
Through transcriptional factories
34
True or false: identical twins can diverge
True: based on epigenetics, there can be changes in appearance and health
35
What do identical twins have in common?
They have the same exact DNA
36
How are identical twins made?
They come from the same egg (clones)
37
True or false: if one identical twin gets cancer, the other twin must get cancer
False: there are differences in their epigenome
38
What did the mice in the NOVA video have in common?
The same DNA
39
What did the mice in the NOVA video have differently?
Different skin color and weight
40
What gene was affected in the mice in the NOVA video?
Agouti
41
What does the Agouti gene do?
Determines skin color and weight
42
What happens if the Agouti gene is constantly activated?
The mouse becomes yellow and fat
43
What happens if the Agouti gene is inactivated?
The mouse becomes dark and skinny
44
In the dark and skinny mouse, what is the state of the Agouti gene?
Silenced
45
In the yellow and fat mouse, what is the state of the Agouti gene?
Activated
46
How is the Agouti gene silenced or activated?
It is silenced by methylation
47
What is the genome compared to in a computer?
The hardware
48
What is the epigenome compared to in a computer?
The software
49
What controls the type of cells in a tissue?
The epigenome (silence the unneeded genes)
50
True or false: the epigenome is permanent
False: it can be changed
51
How can the epigenome of the mice in the NOVA video be changed?
By feeding them a methyl group rich diet
52
What happens when the mice eat a methyl group rich diet?
They silence the Agouti gene and become darker and skinnier
53
What is the significance of the methyl group rich diet in the mice?
What you can eat can affect future generations
54
What was done after the study in mice?
Follow up with identical twins in humans
55
What was the purpose of the human study in the NOVA video?
To see how close twins are epigenetically
56
What was the sample of the human study in the NOVA video?
40 twins, age 3 to 74
57
What was the human experiment in the NOVA video?
Cells were taken from identical twins, and their DNA was compared to analyze the epigenomes
58
What did the dark pink bands in the NOVA video signify?
Places where genes in the epigenome were turned off
59
What was found with the epigenomes of young twins?
They had very similar epigenomes
60
What was found with the epigenomes of old twins?
They had very different epigenomes
61
What was the conclusion of the human study in the NOVA video?
As twins age, epigenetic differences accumulate (especially when lifestyles differ)
62
What is the advantage of cancers caused by epigenetics?
They are easier to modify than broken genes
63
What was the clinical trials in the NOVA video?
A drug that fixed the epigenetic tags in the genes
64
What was the result of the clinical trials in the NOVA video?
Many patients were improving, with not many side effects
65
What is the responsibility associated with epigenetics?
It is easy to mess up the epigenome, so it needs to be taken with care (not stuck with inherited genome)
66
True or false: maternal behavior can affect offspring
True: this is seen in licking and grooming, which is generationally passed on
67
What does LG stand for?
Licking and grooming
68
What behavior does high LG lead to?
Relaxed adults
69
What behavior do relaxed adults go through?
High LG
70
What behavior does low LG lead to?
Fearful adults
71
What behavior do fearful adults go through?
Low LG
72
How can a low LG phenotype be induced?
Through stress
73
What happens when an animal is stressed?
The adrenal glands release glucocorticoids
74
What do glucocorticoids do (in the brain)?
Bind to the hippocampus, inhibit the hypothalamus, and inhibit the pituitary gland
75
What does the hippocampus do under stress?
Inhibits the hypothalamus
76
What does the hypothalamus do under stress?
Cannot activate the pituitary gland through CRF
77
What does the pituitary gland do under stress?
Cannot activate the adrenal glands
78
What happens after glucocorticoids are released by the adrenal glands?
The production is quickly shut off by the negative feedback to the adrenal gland
79
Why do glucocorticoids induce a negative feedback response?
It reduces a long-term, chronic stress response
80
How does high LG affect GR receptors?
There are increased GR receptors
81
How does increased GR receptors impact the stress response?
There is less stress, because there is more inhibition to shut the system off quicker
82
How does low LG affect GR receptors?
There are decreased GR receptors
83
How does decreased GR receptors impact the stress response?
There is more stress, because there is less inhibition to prevent a quick shut off
84
Where are GR receptors found (in terms of the LG stress response)?
On the hippocampus
85
What does LG behavior control (molecularly)?
Serotonin release
86
What does serotonin act on (in response to the LG pathway)?
The hippocampus
87
What is the serotonin pathway to activate the primary response?
Serotonin --> 5-HT7 receptor --> aGs --> AC --> cAMP --> PKA --> CREB --> primary response
88
What is the primary response of the serotonin pathway?
NGF1-A and AP-2
89
What are NGF1-A and AP-2?
Transcription factors
90
Which primary response element controls the GR gene?
NGF1-A
91
What is the secondary response of the serotonin pathway?
The GR gene
92
How does serotonin impact GR receptors?
Higher serotonin leads to higher levels of GR
93
How does DNMT affect the GR gene?
It methylates the DNA where NGF1-A will bind
94
How does DNA methylation impact the GR gene?
It silences it, since NGF1-A cannot bind to the gene
95
How does low LG affect the GR promoter?
It leaves it highly methylated, thus silenced
96
How does high LG affect the GR promoter?
It binds to NGF1-A, thus becoming activated
97
What is the epigenetic modification of LG?
The methylation of the GR promoter
98
What leads to the epigenetic modification of the GR gene?
The LG behavior itself
99
What is meant by cross fostering?
Pups born to high LG moms, but reared by low LG moms, are similar in behavior to low LG pups (and vice versa)
100
What is the significance of the cross fostering experiments?
They demonstrate that epigenetics can be modified and changed
101
What does TSA stand for?
Trichostatin
102
What does TSA do?
Blocks HDAC
103
How does TSA affect GR expression?
It increases GR expression
104
How does TSA affect the LG behavior?
It leads to high LG
105
How does TSA lead to high LG behavior?
It blocks HDAC, so it keeps the GR gene acetylated and activated
106
What does SAM stand for?
S-Adenosyl methionine
107
What does SAM do?
Promotes histone methylation
108
How does SAM affect GR expression?
It decreases GR expression
109
How does SAM affect the LG behavior?
It leads to low LG
110
How does SAM lead to low LG behavior?
It promotes histone methylation, so it keeps the GR gene methylated silenced
111
What is the problem with generalized HDAC/HAT drugs?
They can affect a large range of genes
112
How can the problem of HDAC/HAT drugs be circumvented?
By targeting specific HDACs/HATs found in specific locations (the synapse)

BIO 317 (27 decks)

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