Chapter 5 - Structure & Function in Protists Flashcards
Most eukaryotes are ___________________.
Microbes
What is another name for eukaryotic microbes?
Protists
How long did eukaryotic microbes have before macroscopic lineages (i.e., animals) arose?
1 billion years
Eukaryotic cells are characterized by what two things. What are they?
- An endomembrane system
- A cytokeletal system
Why is it believed that the endomembrane and cytoskeletal system led to the evolutionary success of the eukaryotes?
Because these two systems are the basis for the ability to phagocytose particular food
What were the crucial first events in the evolution of the eukaryotic cell?
The development of a rudimentary cytoskeletal system and the ability to manage the flow of material from one membrane to the next
What 7 organelles make up the endomembrane system?
- The cell membrane
- The endoplasmic reticulum
- The Golgi body
- The endosome
- The nuclear membrane
- The lysosome
- The vacuole
What is not included as part of the endomembrane system?
The mitochondrial and cholorplast membrane
What does the cytoskeletal system consist of?
Microtubules and microfilaments
What targets proteins to particular places in the eukaryotic cell?
Special signal sequences
There are two types of targeting mechanisms in the eukaryotic cell. What are they?
Cotranslation and posttranslation
Why do eukaryotic cells require proteins to have signal sequences?
Because the endomembrane system partitions the cell into multiple compartments each of which has its own distinctive proteins
What type of protein undergoes cotranslational targeting?
Those targeted for the ER and/or secretion
Proteins destined for the mitochondria and/or chloroplast undergo the __________________________ mechanism for protein sorting.
Post-translation
What is required for post-translational signaling?
A chaperone protein
What are the steps to co-translational targeting?
- mRNA exists the nucleus
- Ribosome binds and begins translation in the cytosol
- The amino-terminal 20 or so amino acids constitute a signal sequence that targets the protein to the ER
- The signal recognition particle (SRP) binds to the ribosome and the signal peptide, halting translation
- The ribosome binds to the translocation complex on the ER membrane, displacing the SRP and recommencing translation
- When translation is completed, the signal sequence is cleaved and degraded
- The translocation complex dissociates
What binds to the ribosome and signal peptide, halting translation?
The signal recognition particle
To what does the ribosome bind on the ER membrane in co-translational targeting?
The translocation complex
What are the steps for post-translation protein targeting?
- As mitochondrial or chloroplast proteins are translated, chaperone proteins bind to them
- The chaperone conducts the protein to the organelle where it is translocated to the interior
- The signal sequence is cleaved off and the protein folds into its mature configuration
How many signal sequences do proteins that cross two membranes have?
Two signal sequences: one directs them to the mitochondrion or chloroplast and is cleaved off as the polypeptide enters the organelle; as the polypeptide enters, it is bound by organelle chaperone proteins to keep it unfolded; these chaperones conduct the protein to a second translocation complex where the second signal sequence directs their transfer across the second membrane
What type of destinations require two signal sequences?
Intermembrane spaces (mitochondria or chloroplast)
Thylakoids
How does the endomembrane system exchanges materials by ________________ and ___________________ of membrane vesicles
Budding
Fusion
How are vesicles transported in the cell?
Organized and moved by the cytoskeleton
Is budding and fusion energy-dependent or energy-independent?
Energy-dependent; it requires ATP
What encloses the chromosomes?
The nuclear envelope
What is a specialized region of the ER that consists of two concentric membranes, the outer surface of which is studded with ribosomes?
The nuclear envelope
Is the outer membrane of the nuclear envelope continuous with the ER?
Yes, it is
The nuclear envelope surrounds the ______________________, the material within the nuclear envelope
Nucleoplasm
Why is the nucleoplasm chemically very different from the cytoplasm?
Because of the selectivity of the pores that perforate the nuclear envelope
The nucleoplasm is especially high in what type of molecule?
RNA
What is the site of rRNA transcription and ribosome assembly?
Nucleolus
Form what part of the ER do vesicles bud? The rough or smooth ER?
The smooth ER
Is rRNA translated?
No, it is never translated; it is simply a structural component of ribosomes
The nuclear envelope is composed of two ________________ ______________
Phospholipid bilayers
Does the area closest to or farther from the nucleus have more ribosomes?
Closest to the nucleus
What do chromosomes consist of?
Chromatin
What is chromatin?
A complex of DNA and histone proteins
Free DNA is wrapped around ______________________ cores in chromatin, most of which is coiled into a ________ ____ ____________ in the interphase nucleus. In mitosis and meiosis, this fiber is condensed by linked to a protein scaffold of ______________, which is further coiled into the fully condensed chromosome - 10,000 times shorter than the molecule of DNA it contains
Nucleosomes
30 nm fiber
Condensins
Before chromatin can be transcribed, what must be done to it?
It must be remodeled, a process in which the 30 nm fiber uncoils and the DNA unwraps from the nucleosomes
What type of chemical modification increases transcription?
Acetylation
What regulates the passage of materials between the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm?
Nuclear pore complexes
What partially blocks the nuclear pores?
A group of proteins called the pore complex
What is the maximum sized molecule that can pass between the nucleoplasm and cytoplasm without disrupting the pore complex?
50 kDa
What are the principle macromolecules that pass through the core cmplex?
mRNA
tRNA
Partially assembled ribosomes
How does the nuclear pore complex distinguish between which mRNAs to export and retain?
5’ methyguanosine cap
3’ polyadenyl tail
Where are the enzymes required for mRNA capping located?
Nucleus
What effect does the placement of capping enzymes have on polypeptide transcription?
mRNA transcription and capping are coupled
What recognizes the special sequence for polyadenlyation?
The tailing enzyme
Why does the cell cap and tail mRNA molecules?
To protect mRNA molecules from exonucleases - methylguanosine and poly-adenylated tails do not look like “normal” nucleotides that would be the targets of endonucleases
What unit of the ribosome recognizes the 5’ cap and stabilizes the mRNA molecule?
The small ribosomal subunit
The 5’ cap and 3’ tail are involved in signaling, mRNA protection, and _____________ _________________
Alternative splicing
When is the poly-A tail added?
Post-transcriptionally
What are the steps to poly-A tailing?
- Cleavage factors bind to the cleavage and adenylation specificity factor (CPSF)
- Poly-A polymerase binds
- The mRNA is cleaved
- Poly-A polymerase adds the poly-A tail one nucleotide at a time
To what do cleavage factor proteins bind for polyadenylation?
Cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF)
What helps poly-A polymerase to continue adding adenine nucleotides?
Nuclear poly-A binding protein (PABPN1)
What is the nuclear poly-A binding protein?
A protein that helps poly-A polymerase to keep adding nucleotides to the mRNA molecule
Approximately how many adenine nucleotides are added to a mRNA molecule in mammals?
250
How does the function of the poly-A tail differ in eukaryotes and prokaryotes?
In eukaryotes the poly-A tail extends the life of the mRNA while in prokaryotes it shortens the mRNA life as it targets the mRNA for degradation
Which organelle is responsible for membrane synthesis?
The ER
What is the principal site of lipid synthesis and membrane protein synthesis in the eukaryotic cell?
The ER
Lipid sythesis is accomplished by ______________ embedded in the _____ membrane.
Enzymes
ER membrane
Membrane protein synthesis is done by ___________________ attached to the _______________ surfaces of the __________.
Ribosomes
Cytoplasmic surface
ER
True or false?
The ER is also the site of synthesis of secretory proteins, digestive enzymes, cell walls, and protein glycosylation.
True
What does the Golgi do?
Sorts the mixed contents of ER membrane and lumen into different vesicles (“protein sorting”)
Where are peptide bonds always catalyzed?
By ribosomes in the cytoplasm
Why are proteins destined for secretion or other organelles not embedded into the ER membrane as they leave the ER?
Because they lack the hydrophobic amino acid residues typical of membrane insertion
How does the Golgi sort proteins?
By destination
Materials are transported from the ER to the Golig in membrane ________________. Once at the Golgi, the vesicles fuse with the cisterna on one face of the Golgi, the ___-Golgi. Materials are transferred from one cisterna to the next through the stack by _____________ ________________ and _________________. Vesicles are produced at the other face of the Golgi, the _____-Golgi. These vesicles are ___________________ with contents and membrane proteins appropriate to their destination.
Vesicles
cis-Golgi
Vesicle budding and fusion
trans-Golgi
Homogenous
Although still not fully understood, what is believed to be the underlying mechanism by which the Golgi sorts proteins together?
Glycosylation
What oligosaccharide modification is associated with the lysosome?
Mannose-6-phosphate
What are endosomes?
Vesicles involved in sorting proteins taken in during endocytosis and sends lysomal enzymes to the lysosome
What are secretory vesicles?
Vesicles that carry membrane proteins and materials to be exported from the cell
What is the general term for the process in which vesicles fuse with the cell membrane to release their contents to the outside?
Exocytosis
What is one of the main functions of the endosome?
To separate materials from their receptors
How does the endosome separate materials from their receptors?
Lysosomal enzymes are transported to the endosome in a vesicle; in the vesicle, lysomal enzymes are bound to a membrane receptor that recognizes the M6P signal; the vesicle binds to and fuses with the endosome; once in the endosome, the enzymes dissociate from their receptors because the pH of the endosome is low; the endosome then sorts the membrane receptor and lysosomal enzymes into different transport vesicles
What are the three steps discussed regarding sorting of lysosomal enzymes and receptors in the endosome?
- Lysosomal enzymes dissociate from their receptors in the low pH of the endosome
- The endosome sorts lysosomal proteins into one kind of vesicle for the lysosome
- The free receptors are sorted into a different vesicle for the Golgi
What is the first step in intracellular digestion and in surface receptor recycling?
Endocytosis
What do surface receptors do?
Sense the chemical conditions of the extracellular environment by binding specifically to particular small molecules called ligands
Do all eukaryotic cells obtain their food via endocytosis?
No, but many do
What happens when a ligand binds its receptor?
A conformational change occurs on the inside of the cell reveals an active site that creates a response or triggers a response
What recycles membrane proteins?
Endosomes
What are the five steps regarding endocytosis discussed in class?
- Receptor protein and bound ligand are phagocytosed
- The phgaocytosed materials are sent to the endosome
- In the acidic endosome, the ligand detaches
- The ligand is sent to the lysosome for digestion
- The receptor protein is recycled back to the cell surface
_________________________ eliminates indigestible residues from the cell
Exocytosis
What is a phagolysosome?
A hybrid vesicle composed of a lysosome and endosome fused together for materials endocytosed that are to be digested
Some protists, notably the _________________________, have a defined pathway that phagolysosomes take
Ciliates
In the ciliates, there is a morphologically defined spot on the cell surface where phagocytosis takes place, often at the base of a groove or a pit. What is the spot called?
Cytostome
Where do undigested residues exit in ciliates?
The cytoproct
What five steps occur in the endocytosis and exocytosis in ciliates?
- Cilia sweep food particles into the cytostome
- Phagocytosis occurs at the base of the cystosome
- The phagosome fuses with the lysosomes
- Intracelluar digestion begins as the phagolysosome is slowly moved around the periphery of the cell
- Undigested residue is expelled at the cytoproct