Chapter 2 Flashcards
how did Briggs & King perform a somatic-cell nuclear transfer in amphibians?
they took a nucleus from somatic cell and transferred it to an unfertilized, enucleated egg
-heated a glass needle and used it as a micropipet to transfer the diploid nucleus
-only worked if it was a BLASTOMERE
what is the process of cloning mammals?
- extract egg form oocyte donor & remove spindle
- extract utter cells from nuclear donor and grow until G1 stage
- transfer donor cell into enucleated egg
- shock with electricity to cause bilayers to fuse
- grow until blastocyte forms and transfer to surrogate mother
embryo looked like nuclear donor
what is nuclear totipotency?
all cells have the info needed to direct the formation of a whole individual
-nucleus of any cell can drive development
what are epigenetic markers?
there are different ways DNA is wrapped to turn genes on & off
-does not alter DNA, just allows for silencing to occur
what is differential gene expression?
each type of cell has a complete genome, but each type activates different genes
-unused genes are still retained, just silenced, only small % of genes are used
what are two exceptions to differential gene expression?
gametes: only use half
red blood cells: ditch nucleus to carry O2
describe the structure of a nucleosome? what are the names of the histone proteins?
8 histone proteins w/ two wrapped DNAs
-H2A, H2B, H3, H4 (x2)
-H1 is a linker histone
what happens when histone tails are methylated? acetylated?
methylated: wound tight, no transcription
acetylated: unwound & spaced, transcription
what does the promoter do?
RNA poly2 binding site (reads DNA)
-contains TATA box (-30)
-binds basal TFs
what are exons? introns?
exons: kept in DNA, leave the nucleus to make proteins
introns: cut out of DNA
what is the sequence for the polyadenylation signal?
AATAAAA on 3’ end
what does the enhancer do?
bind gene specific TFs
-helps to stabilize RNA poly2 at promoter
what is the start codon?
AUG / ATG
what are the stop codons?
UGA
UAA
UAG
how does the enhanceosome work?
mediator complex brings far away aparts of DNA close together to allow for transcription to occur
-contains a series of TFs determined by cytoplasmic determinants
-histones must be acetylated by histone acetyl transferases
where in the DNA do TF’s bind to?
major groove of DNA at the bases
-not the phosphate sugar backbone
what two things do TF’s require?
DNA binding domain
Protein interaction domain (must be able to interact w/ enzymes)
what are the 6 families of TFs?
homeodomain (hox, POU, Lim, Pax)
basic helix-loop-helix
basic leucine zipper
zinc-finger
nuclear hormone receptor
sry-sox
what does hox do?
determine where you are in the body & what structure to build
what five things are needed for transcription?
- basal TFs
- gene specific TFs
- mediator complex
- transcription elongation complex
- RNA poly2
what does the carboxyl & amino termini do?
sensing domains (regulating) that respond to the environment
-sense what type and what they can do as a cell
describe what an enhancer trap is?
able to follow reporter gene when you add certain TFs to see what gets turn on
reporter gene (Ex: GFP) is used to make mRNA you are studying colorful
weak promoter + reporter gene + transposable element
what are the three ways DNA is regulated through methylation?
direct promoter silencing
imprinting
X-inactivation
what is direct promoter silencing?
adding a methyl group causes the base to grow and is unable to bind TFs
EX: fetus slowly inactivates epsilon-globin at 8 weeks by methylating it
what is imprinting?
able to see if the sperm-derived or egg-derived allele of the gene is expressed
-female vs male gonads have different affects to methylation
-both are needed, just imprinted differently (active or inactive in mom vs dad)
EX: Igf2 expressed in dad, Igf2r expressed in mom
-methylation turns gene off
does X-inactivation occur in somatic or germ line cells?
only in somatic cells
-germ line cells needs both X’s to be active
what is a barr body?
what the inactivated X gets converted into
what methylates the X-chromosome to make it inactive?
Xist RNA
-entire chromosome shutdown (turns off thousands of genes)
-even in females w/ aneuploidies, only one X is active (creates 2 barr bodies)