BoC-03-Tumor Viruses

Question 1

cytopathic

Answer 1

Causing damage or death to a cell.

Question 2

virions

Answer 2

Virus particle including a capsid (coat) and the viral genome.

Question 3

capsid

Answer 3

Protein coat of a virus particle that envelops and protects the viral genome.

Question 4

virulent

Answer 4

(Of an infectious agent, such as a virus) creating damage such as cell or tissue destruction in an infected host cell or organism. See also temperate.

Question 5

temperate

Answer 5

Behavior (e.g., of an infectious agent, such as a virus) that creates minimal damage in an infected host cell or organism. See also virulent.

Question 6

encapsidation

Answer 6

Process of packaging a viral genome in a capsid.

Question 7

foci

Answer 7

A cluster of transformed cells growing amid a surrounding monolayer of normal cells in culture.

Question 8

transformation

Answer 8

(1) Process of converting a normal cell into a cell having some or many of the attributes of a cancer cell. (2) Alteration of a cell through the introduction of a genetic element.

Question 9

virus stock

Answer 9

A solution of virus particles used experimentally to infect cells or organisms.

Question 10

confluent

Answer 10

State reached when cells in monolayer culture proliferate until they fill all available space at the bottom surface of a Petri dish.

Question 11

monolayer

Answer 11

A population of cells growing as a layer one cell thick.

Question 12

contact inhibition

Answer 12

A behavior exhibited by cells propagated in monolayer culture, reflecting the halt in cell proliferation when adjacent cells touch one another.

Question 13

density inhibition

Answer 13

Same as contact inhibition.

Question 14

topoinhibition

Answer 14

Same as contact inhibition.

Question 15

transformants

Answer 15

A cluster of transformed cells growing amid a surrounding monolayer of normal cells in culture.

Question 16

clone

Answer 16

(1) Copy of a gene that has been isolated by recombinant DNA procedures and amplified into a large number of identical copies. (2) Population of cells,
all of which descend from a common progenitor cell. (3) Offspring of a procedure of asexual reproduction in which the genome of a somatic cell of one organism is used to form a cell that functions equivalently to a fertilized egg that may then itself develop into another organism.

Question 17

papillomas

Answer 17

A benign, adenomatous proliferation of epithelial cells; term often used to describe benign lesions of the skin.

Question 18

papovavirus

Answer 18

The class of viruses that includes SV40, polyomavirus, and papillomaviruses.

Question 19

immortalization

Answer 19

Process whereby a cell population normally having limited replicative potential acquires the ability to multiply indefinitely.

Question 20

anchorage independence

Answer 20

Ability of a cell to proliferate without attachment to a solid substrate.

Question 21

anchorage dependence

Answer 21

Requirement of cells for tethering to a solid substrate before they will grow.

Question 22

syngeneic

Answer 22

(1) Referring to two organisms that share the identical genetic background, such as two members of an inbred strain of mice. (2) Describing the relationship between two sets of cells or tissues, or between a set of cells and an organism, deriving from identical genetic backgrounds.

Question 23

tumor rejection

Answer 23

Process by which an organism prevents the formation of a tumor (including tumor formation by engrafted cells), often achieved through the action of its immune system.

Question 24

immunocompromised

Answer 24

Describing an organism lacking a fully functional immune system. Also termed immunodeficient.

Question 25

subcutaneously

Answer 25

Beneath the skin.

Question 26

integration

Answer 26

nsertion of a fragment of foreign DNA (e.g., the DNA genome of an infecting virus) into chromosomal DNA so that the viral DNA becomes covalently linked to the chromosomal DNA segments flanking it on both sides.

Question 27

episomes

Answer 27

A genetic element, implicitly formed of dsDNA, that exists in a cell, often over extended periods of time, but is not physically linked via covalent bonds to the cell’s chromosomal DNA.

Question 28

lymphotropic

Answer 28

Capable of infecting lymphocytes.

Question 29

provirus

Answer 29

The dsDNA copy of a retroviral genome that is the product of reverse transcription; it can exist transiently, as an episomal (nonchromosomal) plasmid, or stably, following its integration into the chromosomal DNA of an infected host cell.

Question 30

reverse transcription

Answer 30

Enzymatic reaction whereby an enzyme, such as reverse transcriptase, copies an RNA template into a complementary DNA copy.

Question 31

retrovirus

Answer 31

A class of viruses that uses a reverse transcriptase enzyme to copy its genomic RNA into DNA.

Question 32

integrase

Answer 32

An enzyme that is specialized to integrate an episomal DNA, such as a retroviral DNA genome, into host- cell chromosomal DNA. See also integration.

Question 33

xenografts

Answer 33

A normal or neoplastic tissue derived from one species that has been grafted into a host animal from another species.

Question 34

concatemers

Answer 34

1) A molecule resulting from end-to-end joining of multiple copies of a molecular species, such as a DNA sequence or a viral DNA genome. (2) DNA molecules that are topologically intertwined in a fashion that can only be resolved by the actions of a topoisomerase.

Question 35

probe

Answer 35

An RNA or DNA, often radiolabeled, that anneals specifically with a complementary nucleic acid being analyzed, enabling the detection of the targeted nucleic acid sequence.

Question 36

proto-oncogene

Answer 36

A normal cellular gene that, upon alteration by DNA-damaging agents or viral genomes, can acquire the ability to function as an oncogene.

Question 37

leukemogenesis

Answer 37

(adj., -genic) leukemia.

Question 38

viremic/viremia

Answer 38

Presence of high concentrations of virus in the bloodstream.

Question 39

insertional mutagenesis

Answer 39

Alteration of a gene and its function through the integration of a retroviral provirus or transposon in a closely linked chromosomal site.

Question 40

morphogens

Answer 40

A substance that induces cells to construct a

tissue of a certain shape and form.

Question 41

oncoproteins

Answer 41

A protein specified by an oncogene.

Question 42

oncogenes

Answer 42

(1) A cancer-inducing gene. (2) A gene that can transform cells