Cell Proliferation Flashcards
What is cell proliferation?
-Inc. cell numbers
-Growth must occur
–> tissue homeostasis (apoptosis & proliferation balance)
What does deregulation of apoptosis & cell proliferation cause?
-Cancer
-Neurodegenertion
What signals to cells to divide & proliferate?
Mitogens
What are mitogens?
-Growth factors
-Cytokines
Role of mitogens?
To signal to cells to begin to divide and proliferate, by signalling for proteins to be made which allows the R-point to be overcome.
Where are mitogens used in the cell cycle?
G1 = mitogen dependent (to get past R-point = restriction point)
What do mitogens signal to?
Cell membrane bound receptors - e.g., receptor tyrosine kinase family
Why is dimerisation of RTKs important?
-Signal specificity
-Signal activity (i.e., what is causes in the downstream functions)
-Redundancy (if something goes wrong in one rec still have other to rely on)
What is the ErbB receptors tyrosine kinase family?
Which erbB has no kinase domain?
erbB3/HER3
What ligands are for erbB2/HER2?
No specific ones
What ligands are for erbB3/HER3?
Heregulins
What ligands are for erbB4/HER4?
NRG2, NRG3, Heregulins
Role of EGF (ligand - growth factor)?
ERK pathway
Is a POG - so activates cell proliferation
How is ERK pathway regulated (involving EGF ligand) so not = OG?
-Prevent EGF release (target metalloproteinases = involved in exocytosis & cleaving off of EGF - as is a protein made intracellularly)
-Inactivate EGFR
>Internalise (endocytosis & send to
lysosomes to destroy)
-Cells will die if signalling = excessive (induce apoptosis)
How can cancers occur in EGFR signalling pathways (x5)?
-Deregulate endosome - so no endo of EGFR
-over activate metalloproteinases = more exo of EGF
=> more EGF
-Overexpress EGFR = more signalling
-Mutation in kinase domain = always active/phosphorylating (even if nothing bound)
-Deletion (truncating) of ligand binding domain = shorter so ligand not have to bind
What are 3 types of therapeutics to target EGFR to prevent cancer?
1 - Inhibitors = stop EGF binding
2 - Prevent autophosphorylation = tyrosine kinase inhibitors
3 - No het/hom dimers - so none of +ves of dimerisation
How might cancers to EGFRs be resistant to inhibitors?
-T790M mutation = means that the drug will not bind to the active site of the RTK (rec) - so can’t regulate/stop cell prolif
-EGFR T790M amp = means genome will code for EGFRs with mutated active site which inhibitor drugs cannot bind to
-HER2 amp = if have inhibition of HER1/EGFR (due to drugs) = cancers will become reliant on other GF recs
-B-RAF mutations = bypassing some of pathway (skip to downstream signalling) - start at Ras. - Mutated Ras always bound to GTP (always active) - mutation to Raf = v. active kinase - so more rapid ERK signalling
What are cyclins?
Proteins that regulate the cell cycle
What cyclin is involved in early G1?
Cyclin D
What cyclin is involved in late G1?
Cyclin E
What cyclin is involved in S?
Cyclin A