Cellular Genetics and Cell Cycle Flashcards
What are examples of monogenic disorders?
Cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia
What are examples of polygenic disorders?
type II diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, schizophrenia
What is the function of herceptin?
Block HER2 receptors in tumors that overexpress it
What is cytogenetics?
the study of the genetic components of a cell through the visualisation and analysis of chromosomes
In which categories does the location of the centromere organise chromosomes?
metacentric, submetacentric, acrocentric
What is the structure of a Y chromosome?
Pseudoautosomal regions (PARs) at both ends Male specific region (MSY): contains sex determining region of Y (SRY)
What does SRY encode?
A protein that acts as a testis determining factor (TDF)
What are trisomy 21, 13, 18
Trisomy 21: Down syndrome
Trisomy 13: Patau syndrome
Trisomy 18: Edward’s syndrome
Which syndrome is XXY, X and XYY?
XXY: Klinefelter’s syndrome (infertility)
X: Turner’s syndrome (monosomy), infertility, short stature and amenorrhea
XYY: asymptomatic
What causes aneuploidy?
Non-disjunction: failure of homologous chromosomes to separate properly during meiosis
What is the timeline of oogenesis?
Before birth: oogonium undergoes mitosis to become primary oocyte arrested in prophase I
After birth: meiosis continues and secondary oocyte is arrested in metaphase II
After fertilization: meiosis II is completed
What type of disorder is cystic fibrosis?
Autosomal recessive; CFTR on chromosome 7
What defines pedigrees of autosomal recessive diseases?
Trait is rare, often skips generations, affects females and males equally, transmitted by either sex
What type of disorder is Huntington’s?
Autosomal dominant, HD locus has > 36 repeats of CAG codon as compared to 28
What defines pedigrees of autosomal dominant diseases?
trait is frequent, in each generation, males and females are affected equally, transmitted by either sex
What type of disorder is haemophilia A?
X-linked recessive, mutation of gene for blood clotting factor VIII on X chromosome
What defines pedigrees of X-linked recessive diseases?
Usually affects males, cannot be passed from father to son, all daughters of affected fathers are carriers, half the sons of a carrier will be affected and half her daughters will be carriers.
What are multifactorial traits?
Polygenic and influenced by the environment (cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes mellitus, mental illness)
Which nucleic acids are purines and which are pyrimidines?
Purines: G, A
Pyrimidines: C, T
What are the side groups of nucleic acids?
Amine, methyl or carbonyl
What is a nucleoside?
Sugar + base
What bonds are present in DNA?
Phosphodiester bonds
In which direction does DNA replication occur?
5’ to 3’ end
How many nucleotides are needed for one turn of DNA, and what is the diameter of the helix?
10; 2 nm
What is the composition of protein coding genes in the human genome?
1.1%
What are transposon based repeats?
Retrotransposable elements; move to randomly selected new location through mechanism involving RNA intermediate.
LINEs (e.g. haemophilia) and SINEs
What is heterochromatin?
satellite DNA, transcriptionally inactive, composed of long arrays of high copy number tandemly repeated sequences –> genetic fingerprint
What are message processing non-coding RNAs?
Small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs); forms complex with protein –> small ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) required for splicing of pre-mRNAs
What is decoding RNA?
rRNA and tRNA
What is Xist?
Long non-coding RNA that controls mammalian X inactivation