Biochemistry-Midterm Flashcards
Octamer complex
H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 dimers
H1 protein
Binds to the 30 bp linker so that the DNA doesn’t become a mess
Denaturation of DNA is at…
95 degrees Celsius
Renaturation of DNA is at…
37 degrees Celsius
Melting temperature
Temperature at which half of the DNA is denatured
Hybridization
Uses renaturation and denaturation to see how similar the genetic material of two species is
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Uses denaturation and renaturation to amplify a target sequence to make a specific protein
Introns
In between exons
Origin of replication (ori)
Full of AT rich sequences
DNAa
Binds to the ori and stretches it to break the hydrogen bonds
Helicase
Unwinds the DNA by breaking the hydrogen bonds
Single strand binding proteins (SSBP)
Binds to the unwound strands so that they won’t get back together. Also protects genetic material from being degraded by nucleases
Primase
Synthesizes the RNA primer
Integrase
Helps paste the DNA transposon to the new location
Topoisomerase I
Relieves stress of the supercooled DNA on one strand by cutting, unwinding, and resealing
Topoisomerase II
Helps relieve stress on the supercoiled DNA on both strands by cutting, unwinding, and resealing
DNA polymerase III
A holoenzyme consisting of 10 subunits. Includes:
5’-3’ polymerase
3’-5’ exonuclease
5’-3’ polymerase
Adds nucleotides to the growing strand
3’-5’ exonuclease
Proofreads DNA to check for errors
Leading strand
Needs one RNA primer and goes towards the replication fork
Lagging strand
Needs multiple RNA primers and goes way from the replication fork. Segments are discontinuous and are called Okazaki fragments
Replication bubble/fork
Y-shaped opening that opens up the DNA to being replication
DNA polymerase I
Works on the lagging strand after DNA polymerase III adds nucleotides
5’-3’ exonuclease
Gets rid of the RNA primers on the lagging strand
Ligase
Joins the discontinuous fragments
Polymerase alpha
Primase in eukaryotes
Polymerase epsilon
Synthesizes the leading strand and fills in the gaps in between the primers on the lagging strand
Polymerase delta
Synthesizes the lagging strand
RNase and flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1)
Removes the primers
Tandem (satellite)
Repeated sequences right next to each other
Interspersed (transposons)
Respected at different sections of the DNA
Telomeres don’t shorten in…
Cancer, germ, and stem cells
Didanosine
Analog of adenine that fails to form a phosphodiester bond since it has H instead of OH. HIV/AIDs drug
Azidothymidine (AZT)
Analog of thymine that has an acidosis group instead of an OH. Doesn’t form a phosphodiester bond and is and HIV/AIDs drug
Camptothecin (CPT)
Inhibits topoisomerase I from binding to its site. A cancer drug
Eptoposide
Topoisomerase II inhibitor and a cancer drug
DNA polymerase proofreading errors
Mutations in the 3’ to 5’ exonuclease
Depurination
Removing the purines and so 3’-5’ skips over it. Results in deletion mutation
Deamination
Removal of amine group. Transition mutation.
Cytosine-> uracil
Guanine-> xanthine
Adenine-> hypo-xanthine
5’methylcytosine-> thymine
Transition mutation
Changing from purine to purine or pyrimidine to pyrimidine
Transversion mutation
Changing from purine to pyrimidine
ROS
ROS binds to DNA and damages it. 8-hydroxyl guanosine changes to thymine
Thymine dimers
Thymines next to each other bind and leads to structural damage
Point mutation
Change in one nucleotide
Structural damage
Breaks backbone
Base excision repair
Fixes deamination
Nucleotide excision repair
Fixes thymine diners
Mismatch repair
Fixes misincorporated bases. Uses MutS, MutL, and MutH
Missense mutation
Changes nucleotide leading to different amino acid
Nonsense mutation
Puts a premature stop codon
Frame shift mutation
Either an insertion or deletion
Silent mutation
Change in nucleotide but no change in amino acid coded
Xeroderma pigmantosium
Autosomal recessive condition where people are photosensitive. Results in mutation in nucleotide excision repair which corrects for thymine dimers
Ataxia-telangiectasia
Mutation in ATM gene which tells that there is an issue. Due to no correction in ROS. Degenerative motor condition due to failure to repair ROS in the cerebellum. Can’t call base excision repair system
Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC)
Mutation in mismatch repair system
Restriction enzymes (endonucleases)
Cleave specific DNA sequences
Staggered cuts
Produces sticky ends/cohesive ends that have H bonds. Ligand can connect them together
Blunt cuts
Produce blunt ends that don’t have H bonds. Enzyme in the T4 bacteriophage helps ligase strands together
Gel electrophoresis
Electrical field in which DNA goes to the positive side (phosphates of DNA) make it negative. Separated molecules based on size
Requirements of PCR
Taq DNA polymerase
Two DNA primers
dNTP
Template DNA
3 steps of PCR
Denaturation
Annealing
Extension
Applications of PCR
Disease diagnosis
Disease identification
Treatment
DNA sequencing
Melting temperature
Tm= 2(# of A&T) + 4(# of G&C)
DNA sequencing
Finding out the sequencing of DNA. Two steps:
Generating the sequence
Obtaining the sequence
Maxam Gilbert method
Chemical process that has a lot of limitations
Sanger’s method
Enzymatic, dNTP, ddNTP, electrophoresis
Pyrosequencing
Enzymatic, dNTP, no ddNTP, no electrophoresis
ddNTP color
ddATP: green
ddGTP: black
ddCTP: blue
ddTTP: red
DNA sequencing procedure
Put all materials in PCR and amplify for 40 cycles. Clean the sample and put in electrophoresis
Applications of DNA sequencing
Genetic mutation
Gene function and structure
DNA cloning
RNA
Working copy of the DNA
tRNA
Makes up 15% of total RNA in the cell. Smallest RNA type in the cell. Decodes the nucleotide sequence to form amino acids at the anticodon loop
rRNA
Makes up 80% of total RNA in the cell.
Four different species: 28S, 18S, 5.8S, and 5 S
Attaches to ribosomal proteins
mRNA
Most heterogenous RNA in terms of shape and structure. Makes up 3-5% of total RNA.
Has special structures:
- 5’ cap
- 5’-3’ UTR
- poly A tail at 5’ end
Heterochromatin
Condensed form of DNA. Genes are inactive. HDAC removes the acetyl group from lysine to form a strong DNA/histone bond
Euchromatin
Less condensed structure. Has active genes. HATS adds acetyl group to the lysine to form a loose DNA/histone interaction
RNA polymerase I
Transcribes pre-RNA sequences of 28S, 18S, and 5.8S
RNA polymerase II
Transcribes mRNA and ncRNA (snRNA, miRNA, scoRNA)
RNA polymerase III
Transcribes tRNA and small amounts of snoRNA and snRNA
Promoter region
Initiates/promotes transcription
DNA elements
Sequences in the promoter region. Two examples:
- TATA box: 25 nucleotides upstream (down first nucleic acid)
- CAAT box: 70-89 nucleotides upstream
Transcription factors
Binds to the DNA elements
Example: CTF1, SP1, and TFIID (binds to TATA box)
Alpha-amanatin
Toxin procure by amanita phaloides mushroom. Binds to RNA polymerase II and is irreversible.
Causes GI disturbances, electrolyte imbalance, and kidney+liver dysfunction
45 S
Pre- RNA
Pre- RNA is modified by…
- Cleavage by an endonuclease (RNase)
- Trimmed by exonucleases
- Base and nucleotide modification by snoRNA
tRNA modifications
- 16 nucleotide sequence at 5’ end is cleaved
- 14 nucleotide sequence at anticodon loop is cleaved
- 3’ end uracil residue is converted into CCA
- Nucleotide modifications
Primitive mRNA
RNA polymerase II transcribes a premature RNA called heterogenous RNA (hnRNA)
hnRNA modifications…
- Cap at 5’ end (co)
- Poly-A tail at 3’ end (post)
- Splicing (co or post)
5’ Capping
Cap is a 7-methylguanosine which is added backwards frmom 5’ to 5’. Cal is not transcribed from the DNA
Stabilizes mRNA and helps in initiating translation
Guanylyltransferase
Adds the GMP (guanosine monophosphate)
7-guonosine methyltransferase
Adds the methyl group to the guanosine
Poly- A tail
Tail is added after it recognizes the polyadenylation sequence (AAUAAA). Tail ranges from 40-200 nucleotides.
Helps in stabilizing, in translation, and transporting out of the cell
Longer poly-A tail, more stable it is since exonucleases will have to eat more to get to the actual mRNA
Poly A tail sequence is not transcribed from the DNA
Polyadenylation polymerase (poly A pol)
Catalyze the poly-A tail. ATP is used as a substrates
Splicing
Cutting introns to only ligate the exons
Intron structure
5’ end: start with GU
3’ end: start with AG
Branch point A
snRPS
Small nuclear ribonuclear proteins. They help in splicing. Contain snRNAs
Splicing mechanism
2’OH of branch point A attacks 5’ end of intro closest to exon 1. This forms a 2’ to 5’ bond and lacerates it. The free 3’ end of exon 1 then binds to the 5’ of intron closest to exon 2.
B-knot thalesimia
Homozygous mutation in the intron region (5’ or 3’ end) in the hemoglobin gene. This totally abolishes normal splicing and is fatal!
B+ thalesimia
Point mutation in polyadenylation sequence. Instead of AAUAAA -> AACAAA. Less fatal
Epigenetic change
Modification of base pairs that leads to irreversible and hereditary changes. There is no change in bases
Epigenetic changes example
- The way you hold a baby
- Cellular differentiation
- Differences in monozygotic twins
Mice example
Normal mice has brown fur, is small, and free from disease. Agouti mice has yellow fur, is large, and prone to disease.
When give mother normal diet and B12, folate, choline, and betaine, mice were normal.
When give mother normal diet only, mice were agouti
Bee example
Both queen and workers have same genes. However, queen takes royal jelly diet while worker doesn’t take this diet
DNA methylation
Silences genes
DNA methyl-tansferase
Adds methyl group to 5 part of CpG cytosine.
Can measure these levels in original gene or transcribed target sequences
5mC inhibits gene activity because…
- Harder to break hydrogen bonds
- Larger is TFs wont attach
- Strong binding with methyl proteins so won’t bind to TFs
- Chromatin remodeling
Places where you can get methyl…
- Folic acid
- Betaine
- B12
- B6
- Choline
Importance of DNA methylation
- DNA imprinting
- X chromosome inactivation
- Aging
- Tissue specialization
H2A and H2B…
Leave the cell readily so not important for gene modification
H3 and H4…
Stats in cell and is important for gene modification
Histone acetylation
Charges of arginine and lysine are suppressed so genes are active
Histone deacetylation
Charges if arginine and lysine are activated and genes are inactive
Resveratol
Found in red grapes
Removes acetyl group and improves health
Housekeeping genes
Need them all the time.
Ex: ribosomal genes, tRNA, actin
Controlled genes
Need them at specific times.
Ex:histone, DNA pol, hormones
Regulatory DNA sequences
On the DNA and are cis acting elements (come from the same gene). Can enhance/silence gene expression
Regulatory proteins (TFs)
Trans-acting DNA proteins that bind to DNA elements. That activate/suppress gene expression
Steroid hormone receptor example
Glucocorticoid receptors are separate. When cortisol binds to the receptors, they form a protein dimer. This signals the GRE sequence to come and activate certain genes
Cortisol: DNA binding protein
GRE: DNA sequence
Splice site choice
Can choose what regions you want to splice
mRNA editing
Change in a nucleotide sequence
Ex: apoprotein B’s real form is actually really long. Change in a nucleotide sequence leads to a premature stop (missense) This protein is found in the liver and small intestine
In iron deficiency…
Body thinks transferrin has iron so will increase transcription of transferrin receptors while ferritin receptor transcription will decrease
Proto-oncogene
Normal gene. Can become cancerous by accumulation of normal protein or forming an abnormal product
Oncogene
Abnormal growth in cells. Can be cause by viral insertion and cellular mechanisms
Viral insertion
When a virus enters its genetic material into the cell, it fuses with the cells’ DNA and leads the cell to make a lot of proteins
Point mutation
Leads to the change in one amino acid
Ex: in RAS a point mutation leads to a change in only one amino acid
Amplification
Usually, when genes are amplified, they are stored in the chromosome as a double minute. Amplification leads to an increase in normal gene product.
Ex: myc oncogenes is found in many neuroblastomas