Cell growth and proliferation Flashcards
How do normal cells respond to the body needing them?
They divide when needed
Give examples of when cell proliferation is needed
Tissue maintenance Embryogenesis Repairing wounds Adapting to the environment Fighting infection
What happens when cell proliferation controls are lost?
Cancer
Do all cells in the body have the ability to divide?
No
What are stem cells?
Present in small numbers in tissues
Responsible for re-seeding proliferating precursor cells which differentiate to replace dying cells to maintain the tissue
Give an example of stem cells
Intestinal stem cells
Found in the intestinal crypt
Cells divide in the proliferation zone and move out of the crypt
Cells die by apoptosis and are replaced
What stimulates cell proliferation?
Mitogenic signals
Growth factors
What is the equation for cell proliferation?
Cell growth + cell division
Define cell growth
Increase in cell size
Increase in cytoplasmic organelles
Define cell division
Chromosome duplication
Mitosis
Cytokinesis
What happens in interphase?
G1, S and G2
Cell grows
Nuclear DNA duplicated
What happens in mitosis and cytokinesis?
Nucleus and cytoplasm divide to form two daughter cells
What regulates the cell cycle?
Cyclin-dependent kinases
Describe a cyclin dependent kinase
Cyclin binds to, and activates, cyclin-dependent kinase
What do cyclin dependent kinases do?
Phosphorylate proteins that are important during specific cell cycle phases
What regulates the different phases of the cell cycle?
Different cyclin-CDK dimers e.g. G1/S-Cdk S-Cdk M-Cdk
Which subunits are generally present throughout?
Cdk catalytic subunits 1,2,4,6
Which subunits have fluctuating levels?
Cyclin regulatory subunits
A,B,D,E
What is essential in the cell cycle?
Increase the cell size and cytoplasmic organelles Overcome restriction point Replicate the chromosomes once Fully duplicate the chromosomes Separate the duplicated chromosomes Separate the two daughter cells
What is the restriction point in G1?
The R point is a checkpoint through which cells can only progress if appropriately stimulated by mitogens
What is needed to get through the restriction point?
Mitogenic growth factor signalling
What do mitogenic growth factors signal for?
Transcription factors of immediate early genes