BLOCK 1 Flashcards
prokaryotes
bacteria and archaea; lack a nucleus and internal membranes
eurkaryotes
multicellular animals; plants and fungi, unicellular protists; has nucleus and extensive internal membrane system
cell theory
- all living things are made of one or more cells
- the cell is the structural and functional unit of all living things
- all cells come from pre-existing cells by division
modern cell theory
- cells contain hereditary information which is passed from cell to cell during cell division
- all cells are basically the same in chemical composition
- all energy flow (metabolism and biochemistry) of life occurs within cells
the central dogma
activation
transcription
processing
translation
proteome
read gene sequences to predict the complement of proteins
differential gene expression
determines which genes are expressed and at what levels
transcription factors
proteins that interact with specific DNA regulatory sequences associated with genes to modulate transcription by recruiting RNA polymerases
transcriptome
genes being transcribed
epigenetics
heritable changes in the genetic potential of a cell without changes to the underlying DNA sequence
chromatin modifications
epigenetic changes that regulate the access to regulatory sequences and thus regulate transcription (methylating cytosines prevents accessibility to gene)
noncoding RNAs
regulate/ control mRNAs
microRNAs (miRNAs)
nonprotein coding; folded and cleaved into siRNAs
long non-coding RNAs
processed into siRNAs
small interfering RNAs (siRNAs)
destroys and inhibits complementary mRNAs by RNAi
RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC)
inhibits or destroys targeted RNA
primary cells
non-cancerous, non-transformed
some divide, some already differentiated
can be isolated or cultured
challenge of primary cells
not alive forever
transformed cells
cancerous cells
can be grown in culture; some model basic cell functions, others retain specialized functions
stem cells
can be isolated or induced
embryonic stem cells that have self-renew capacity, not differentiated but capacity to do so is there
light microscopy
limited in contrast, magnification, resolving power
why is contrast poor in light microscopy?
cells are transparent so they don’t absorb light and therefore contrast is poor
techniques for enhancing contrast in light microscopy
modulate phase of light using optical tools
modulate contrast of specimen
enhancing contrast: modulating phase of light using optical tools
phase contrast (strict contrast) differential interference contrast (DIC) --> 3D looking
magnification
the amount the initial image is blown up –> dependent on lenses used
resolution
how far apart two objects have to be to be seen as two separate objects
what determines resolution?
the wavelength of light used (shorter = better resolution)
the properties of lenses used (NA, width of light cone the objective gathers)
what is the resolution of a conventional light microscope?
1/2 the wavelength of light being used
airy patterns
when light interacts with a specimen, the light gets defracted into a pattern
airy disk diameter is determined by light WL (smaller WV = smaller diameter)
fluorescence microscopy
improves contrast and allows specific cellular structures to be labeled
fluorescence
when a molecule absorbs light of one wavelength and then re-emits it as a longer wavelength
fluorophores (fluors)
labels specific structures because is linked to various chemicals
fluorescence microscopy process
molecules are treated with light of a certain energy; the molecule will absorb it, kick out a photon with a certain WL, some energy will be lost; and a longer WL is transmitted (red shift)
fluorescent proteins
genetically encoded fluorescence markers that can be fused to proteins of interest at the DNA sequence level (allows live imaging)
CMV promoter
driving expression of a GFP-tubulin fusion protein in all cells
induces transfection, recruits transcription factors
tissue specific promoters
drive tissue-specific protein expression
immuocytochemistry
immunolabeling; visualizes proteins in cells
immunocytochemistry process
- fix: fixatives react, cross link, and freeze everything in the cell to nearby molecules
- permeabilize: detergent perforates membrane so antibodies can enter
- antibodies bind to target
- a fluorescent “secondary antibody” binds to primary antibody if the primary is not directly labeled
immunoblotting (western blotting)
allows us to take samples of a cell and figure out if a protein is present in the cells
immunoblotting process
electrophoresis and transfer; antibody detection; chromogenic detection
immunoisolation / immunoprecipitation
antibody specifically binds to a particular protein and the antigen is precipitated. process can be used to isolate and concentrate a particular protein from a sample
antibodies
immune proteins that bind to specific proteins; made by B cells (2 heavy and 2 light chains)
epitope
specific 8-12 amino acid sequence
monoclonal antibodies
made by isolating and cloning a single antibody-producing cell and thus recognize a single epitope; all antibodies produced are identical
polyclonal antibodies
mxiture of different antibodies produced by the host animals B-cells against various epitopes of the target protein and isolated from blood serum
transfection
to cause a foreign protein to be expressed in a cell
what kinds of things can you express in a cell with transfection?
- GFP-tagged versions of molecules
- proteins that aren’t normally present in the cell
- mutant proteins that are constitutively active (enzymes; mutate to make always active)
- mutant proteins that are dominant negative (proteins that don’t function right and block the function of the cell’s own version of the molecule
transient transfection
expression from plasmid
stable transfection
DNA integrates into genome; heritable
RNA interference (RNAi) purposes
- protects against viral RNA
- regulates stability of cell’s own mRNAs via miRNAs or siRNAs
RNAi process
miRNA and siRNA direct enzyme complexes to degrade mRNA molecules and prevent translation when transfected into cells
laser-scanning confocal microscopy
uses pinholes to deblur by eliminating light from upper and lower planes (thin, focused plane of light)
digital deconvolution
uses computational methods to deblur; predicts peak intensity of brightness
super resolution fluorescence
PALM
STORM
allows images to be taken with a higher resolution than the one imposed by the diffraction limit
STORM (stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy)
lasers are used to photo-activate fluorphores that quickly switch back off; repeating allows the center of the light spot to be calculated and mapped onto a digital image
electron microscopy
shorter wavelength than light - higher resolution (.004nm instead of 400-500nm)
TEM
SEM
TEM
transmission electron microscope
images electrons that pass through a specimen
TEM process
shining beam of electrons at a thin stained sample; electrons get deflected by metal bound to the structures of cell and a detector picks up the deflected electrons
resolution of TEM
.1-.2nm with magnetic lenses
.002nm with optical lens
SEM
scanning electron microscope
images electrons scattered by an intact object; depth of focus gives 3D image quality
SEM resolution
5 nm
SEM process
coat sample in metal stain; electrons bounce off to deflectors and image is created from that
SEM use
used to look at surfaces of structures
SEM use
used to look at surfaces of structures
electron microscopy process
samples must be dehydrated; imaging is done in a vacuum and water creates noise - must be fixed and stained with heavy metals which leaves a scaffold of what was the cellular material
immunoelectron microscopy
labeling structures in electron microscopy
attach dense particles (gold beads) to antibodies to make them visible; gold beads are electron dense, antibody sticks to protein of interest in the cell –> electrons will scatter upon hitting the bead and show where proteins are
centrifugation
differential centrifugation
gradient centrifugation
differential centrifugation
components separate depending on their densities; the less dense a material, the longer or faster it needs to spin to separate
lipid rich structures are not dense so it is difficult to separate them
gradient centrifugation
fine tunes differential centrifugation
many tubes of solution (let’s say sucrose) are made with different concentrations which have different (known) densities. A concentration gradient with the sucrose solutions is made –> sample from differential centrifugation is added and components will separate and settle out on the level where their density matches the density of the sucrose
membrane functions
separate compartments/ selectively permeable
provide scaffold for biochem activities (energy transduction)
mediate some kinds of cell-cell interactions
key element of signal transduction pathways
lipids
phospholipids, glycolipids, sterols
amphipathic
phospholipids
all have phosphate linkage to a head group and 2 fatty acid tails
phosphyglycerides, sphingomyelin
phosphoglycerides
major component of most membranes
two fatty acid chains linked to a glycerol with glycerol phosphate on head group
one saturated (straight) chain and one unsaturated (kinked)
sphingomyelin
sphingosine amino group (instead of glycerol) links to phosphate head
two saturated fatty acid chains
saturated chain
straight
unsaturated chain
kinked
glycolipids
sphingosine amino group links directly to a sugar head group (no phosphate)
two saturated tails
sterols
four ring hydrocarbons, cholesterol can increase or decrease membrane fluidity depending on conditions
structures formed from lipids in water
micelles
bilayers
micelles
small spheres with tails pointed in
bilayers
two layers of lipids with tails pointed toward each other
spontaneously forms; close upon themselves to make a continuous surface interacting with water
phosphatidylcholine
unsaturated tails provide a thinner membrane
sphingomyelin
saturated tails provide a thicker membrane
cholesterol
inserts itself into membranes and can affect properties
cholesterol + phosphatidylcholine
straightens kinked tails, increases thickness
cholesterol + sphingomyelin
doesn’t affect thickness
properties that can affect a membrane structure
size of head groups, tail shapes
lateral shifting / lateral diffusion (membrane)
a lipid’s ability to drift within a leaflet on the same plane
flexion / rotation
bending of tails from thermal energy (common)
transverse flip-flop
when lipids on opposite planes of a leaflet switch places (rare, not natural since hydrophobic heads need to come in contact with water –> requires energy)
how to determine lateral mobility of lipids
microscopy –> fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP)
FRAP
determines lateral mobility of lipids; phospholipids are labeled with a fluorescent probe; a bright laser is shined on a small spot of membrane to bleach the fluorescence on those lipids; the time it takes for other fluorescent lipids to diffuse into the bleached region demonstrates lateral mobility
leaflet
lipids are synthesized in the ER and inserted into one or the other faces of the bilayer
not randomly distributed into the plane
flipases
membrane proteins that flip-flop lipids back to their normal sides to maintain asymmetry
sphingolipids in the membrane
tend to cluster relative to other membrane lipids