Cell Replication Flashcards
3 components of the cell cycle
Duplication
Division
Co-ordination
5 factors that affect cell division
Cell maturity
Complexity of system
Necessity for renewal
State of differentiation
Tumourigenesis
Cell maturity
Embryonic cells divide at a faster rate than adult cells ; most mammalian mature cells can divide every 24 hours
Complexity of system
Higher system complexity the LOWER THE RATE of expected division ; yeast cells take 1.5-3 hours
Necessity for renewal
Cells with high turnover like intestinal epithelial cells divide at a faster rate than hepatocytes (once every year)
State of differentiation
Neurons and cardiac monocytes are terminally differentiated so will never divide
How are terminally mature cells repopulated
By stem cells and progenitor cells
Tumourigenesis
Loss of all control elements governing cell cycle ; tumours have uncontrollable fast rate of division
Interphase
G1 S G2
M phase
Mitosis + cytokinesis (cytoplasmic splitting)
G phases
Gap phases - prepping for S (by growing in size + synthesising proteins) OR prepping for M (by growing in size and checking/repairing DNA)
S phase
Synthesis phase
G0
Quiescent - takes urself out of cell cycle ; terminally mature cells - if cells need to quiesce (rest) they can enter G0
How does G0 work?
Cell must have necessary resources to endure replication of 3.2 B base pairs/double in size ; so if no stimuli present most differentiated cells go into G0 phase
What about cells in G0 phase
They are simply non-dividing ; neurons/skeletal muscle/hepatocytes
Monitoring of external environment includes
Ample nutrients + ample growth factors
Checkpoints in cell cycle
3 checkpoints - G1 checkpoint to enter S phase ; is environment favourable?
G2 checkpoint to enter M - has DNA replicated correctly/not damaged
M checkpoint - are all chromosomes properly attached to mitotic spindle
Pause process?
IF CELL HAS TO UNDERGO DNA REPAIR
Cell pauses at checkpoint to allow DNA repair to occur ; if DNA beyond repair cell leaves cell cycle + undergoes apoptosis
Why do cells enter G0 phase?
Differentiation - specialised cell types do not divide until needed for tissue repair etc
Senescence - may lost its ability to divide but still remain metabolically active ; can result from aging/cellular stress/DNA damage/oncogenes signals
Cell quiescence - resting cells to conserve energy (until activated for growth/repair)
Terminal maturity - neurons/muscle/mature RBCs - PERMANENTLY post-mitotic in G0
External signals - lack of growth factors/nutrients signals from neighbouring cells
DNA damage - time needed for repair mechanisms
Cell stress - protective mechanism in oxidative stress/heat shock/inflammatory signals etc
How do cells leave the G0 phase?
Through extra cellular stimuli (growth factors binding to receptor on cell surface membrane) which starts an intracellular signalling cascade
Growth factor binds to receptor which leads to intracellular signalling pathway causing protein synthesis to increase or protein degradation to decrease (either way leads to CELL GROWTH)
Signal cascade also known as
Signal amplification ; cascades can modulate various other cascades in parallel - signal integration/modulation by other pathways - causes cell to enter cell cycle from G0
c-Myc
Is a type of growth factor called a transcription factor which expresses a particular gene ; promotes transition of cell out of G0 into G1
ONCOGENE - over expressed in many tumours (cell will be going into replication when conditions are not favourable)
Why are serine threonine and tyrosine all sites of phosphorylation?
They all contain hydroxyl groups in their side chains so can be phosphorylated by kinases (just like glucose)