Cell 2 Flashcards
What constitutes 25 to 75% of the mass of the membrane?
proteins
What can be removed from the plasmalemma with salt solutions?
peripheral proteins
What are the types of integral proteins?
monolayer and transmembrane
What protein is involved in Alzheimer’s disease?
beta-amyloid precursor protein
What kind of protein is beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP)?
transmembrane protein
Why is beta-amyloid precursor protein important?
- Neuronal migration during development
- Synaptic formation and repair
- Cell signaling
- Long-term potentiation of memory
- Cell adhesion
In Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, what protein is involved? And what does it do?
prion protein (PrP) of neurons, it is converted to an abnormal variant
What is a prion protein?
A glycosylated, GPI-anchored, cell surface protein
What does the abnormal variant of prion protein do?
- misfolded prion (alpha-helix to beta-sheet)
- forms cross-linked filaments that are resistant to proteolysis
- also accelerates conversion of normal PrP to the same form (infectious in this context)
What are some functions of normal prion proteins?
- neuroprotective against ischemia
- control circadian rhythms
- serve to organize the myelin sheath
How do amyloid peptides aggregate?
abnormal cleavage of beta amyloid precursor protein
Why are amyloid-peptide aggregates bad?
they clump together and form amyloid fibrils that arrange into plaques, they are also resistant to proteolysis
- the accumulation of plaques are the cause for Alzheimer’s.
What stain can be used to identify amyloid plaques?
Congo Red stain
What are the functions of membrane proteins?
- pumps and carriers
- channels
- receptors
- linker proteins
- enzymes
- structural
What do pumps (membrane proteins) do?
use ATP to move cargo across the membrane
What do carriers (membrane proteins) do?
passively move cargo across the membrane (do not require energy)
What do channel proteins do?
they respond to signals and serve as doorways into or out of the cell
What do receptor proteins do?
specific ligands bind to them to produce a signal cascade
What do linker proteins do?
they allow structural proteins of the cell and the ECM to link and interact
What do structural proteins do?
they form connections with adjacent cells and/or the ECM
Pharmacologic agents may act on what type of proteins to produce a therapeutic effect?
receptors as agonists or antagonists
How do antagonists work?
block the signal and reduce the effect of the receptor
How do agonists work?
they mimic the effect of the ligand (signal)
What does up regulation of receptors mean?
number of receptors on the membrane increases
What does down regulation of receptors mean?
number of receptors on the membrane decreases
What is the clinical relevance in estrogen receptors that needs to be taken under consideration when treating a patient with breast cancer?
estrogen receptors are not in the membrane of cells (they are located in the nucleus). Determining if a patient has estrogen receptors will help decide on pursuing a hormonal treatment plan