DNA repair Flashcards
Understand that... - the development of cancer requires the acquisition of new properties by cells which require genetic change in these cells - tumor cell evolution is driven by natural (clonal) selection causing non-linear diversification. The resulting tumor cells may become genetically vastly different from how they started
Altered behaviour of cancer cells
- oncogene activation -> precancerous state, increased DNA damage
- pre-cancerous state under control by checkpoints; prevent proliferation of these cells
- loss of tumor suppressor function (linked to failure of cell cycle checkpoints) enables pre-cancerous cells to proliferate
- proliferating tumor cells evolve via mutagenesis and -> altered cell functions
Hallmarks of cancer
- sustaining proliferative signaling
- evading growth suppressors
- activating invasion and metastasis
- enabling replicative imortality
- inducing angiogenesis
- resisting cell death
Cause of hyperplasia
loss of APC
Cause of dysplasia (the presence of abnormal cells within a tissue or organ)
DNA hypomethylation (loss of the methyl group in the 5-methylcytosine nucleotide)
Cause of adenoma
- activation of K-ras (early)
- loss of 18q TSG (intermediate)
- loss of p53 leads to carcinoma
Explain the cause of mutation and cancer development
multiple rounds of genetic change that lead to a growth advantage and natural selection drives tumor evolution
Describe what is meant by dynamic tumor evolution
gives rise to populations of cells with distinct proliferative advantage
The genome of a cancer cell
- change in chromosome number
- change in diploidy
- change in structure of chromosme
- genomic instability
Describe a mutation
- a change in the structure of a nucleotide sequence in a gene
- the altered sequence or gene resulting from such change
- a change in the karyotype (chromosomal)
Define mutagenesis
the process by which DNA changes, resulting in a gene mutation
Describe, with reference to experiments run using bacteria, how we know that mutagenesis requires cellular function
- low levels of mutagenesis exist in normal bacteria to allow for growth in absence of a nutrient (e.g. arginine)
- the number of cells able to grow in absence of arginine increases if bacteria is irradiated with UV light
- in cells with defective UmuD and UmuC proteins, UV light no longer induces mutagenesis
- mutagenesis, therefore, is not spontaneous
Why is mutagenesis essential
UmuD and UmuC help protect cells against DNA damaged caused by UV radiation
Describe, with reference to experiments using coal tar, how we know that DNA damage causes cancer
- coal tar damages DNA
- DNA was isolated from the cells and reintroduced into new cells
- new cells now exhibited altered behaviour, no longer respecting boundaries and growing over one another (foci)
- foci were transplanted into nude mice (compromised immune response) and induced tumors
- if repeated using DNA from cells not treated with DNA damage, no tumors form
Describe the factors contributing to DNA damage
- External sources: UV light, ionizing radiation, chemicals (e.g. treatments/smoking)
- Internal souces: ROS, depurination from metabolism, replication
Describe how mispair of DNA sequence can result in a mutation
- two adjacent nucleotides link to eachother via either cyclobutene pyrimidine dimer or 6-4 photoproduct
- linked nucleotides can no longer code, so a different replacement base enters the sequence
- complementarity is disrupted
