Cell Repair & Regeneration Flashcards
What is the body’s initial response to injury?
Acute inflammation
What are the main roles of acute inflammation?
- clear away dead tissue
- protect against local infection
- allow the immune system into the damaged area
If a damaging stimulus is removed, what may happen to the damaged tissue?
damaged tissue may be replaced by organised tissue that is identical in structure and function to the original tissue
What is cell regeneration dependent on?
cells being able to regrow and clearance of cell debris from the site of injury
What happens if damaged cells cannot regrow or the architecture of the tissue is destroyed?
REPAIR
Healing takes place by the formation of scar tissue
What are the 3 outcomes of acute inflammation?
- regeneration - cells regrow
- repair - cells cannot regrow
- chronic inflammation
What are the 2 most important factors in determining the outcome of cellular injury?
- the ability of cells to replicate
2. the ability to rebuild complex architectural structures
What are the 3 different types of cell populations?
- laible cells
- quiescent (stable) cells
- permanent cells
What is the turnover and regenerative ability of labile cell populations?
High normal turnover
Active stem cell population
Excellent regenerative capacity
What is an example of labile cell population?
epithelial cells
What is the turnover and regenerative ability of stable cell populations?
low physiological turnover
Turnover can massively increase if needed
Good regenerative capacity
What are examples of stable cell populations?
hepatocytes
What is the turnover and regenerative ability of permanent cell populations?
No physiological turnover
These are long life cells with no regenerative capacity
What are examples of permanent cell populations?
Neurones, striated muscle cells
Which types of cells will replace cells lost through injury?
Stem cell pools that are present in many labile and stable cell populations
What happens when stem cells undergo mitotic division?
one of the daughter cells retains stem cell characteristics
the other cell progresses along a differentiation pathway e.g. epidermis
Where are stem cell pools present in the body?
in many labile and stable cell populations
located in specific areas e.g. basal layers of epidermis
What is the main difference between regeneration and repair?
Tissue returns to normal in regeneration
Fibrosis and scarring leads to healing in repair
How does regeneration and repair affect function of cells?
Regeneration allows restitution of the specialised function
Repair leads to loss of specialised function
What is the main architectural consideration regarding repair and regeneration?
Rebuilding of complex architectures is very limited
e.g. the lung or glomerulus
What is essential when determining whether a body part can regenerate?
the survival of the connective tissue framework
What causes liver cirrhosis?
It is the end result of persistent long term damage to the liver by a noxious agent that persists over a long period
e.g. autoimmune damage, alcohol
Why can’t the regeneration of liver cells repopulate the normal architecture in cirrhosis?
there is collapse of the reticulin (connective tissue) framework of the liver
What is the result of the collapsed reticulin framework in a cirrhotic liver?
the formation of regenerative nodules divided by fibrous septa
What type of cell population are hepatocytes?
Hepatocytes are a stable cell population with excellent regenerative capacity
In a minor skin abrasion, can the cell population be restored?
The loss of labile cell population can be completely restored
What is meant by contact inhibition when labile cell populations are restored?
cells at the edge of the defect multiply to cover the defect
once the cells cover the defect, proliferation stops
this is when the cells touch each other
How does regeneration occur in a minor skin abrasion where there is limited loss of epidermis?
- cells at the margins proliferate and spread out as a thin sheet across the dermis
- once the defect is covered the stimulus for the cells proliferate and move is switched off by contact inhibition
- the epidermis then grows from the base upwards
What controls regeneration?
complex control by growth factors, cell to cell and cell to matrix interactions
In which condition are the mechanisms of regeneration control lost?
neoplasia
What type of tissue is involved in cellular repair?
What is the consequence of this?
Healing is by non-specialised fibrous (scar) tissue
This means that the normal structure cannot be replaced
What are the mechanical consequences of scar tissue developing in the interventricular septum after a myocardial infarction?
- loss of pumping capacity
2. if the scar is large it may cause cardiac failure
What are the electrical consequences of scar tissue developing in the interventricular septum after a myocardial infarction?
- a scar may be a focus of abnormal electrical activity
- it may lead to arrhythmia
- it might disrupt the cardiac conducting system if it is in a critical point (e.g. His bundles) - giving heart block