Exam 1 Flashcards
Failure of NER (Nucleotide Excision Repair) results in what two clinical conditions?
Xeroderma pigmentosum (failure of global NER) and Cockayne syndrome (failure of transcription-coupled NER)
Failure of the mismatch repair system results in what clinical condition?
Hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC)
The hMSH is the eukaryotic homolog of ____ in E. coli
MutS, part of the Mismatch repair (MMR) system
This DNA repair system is dependent on specific DNA glycosylases which remove an incorrect base to create an AP site
Base Excision Repair (BER)
How is Uracil created from Cytosine?
Deamination
How is Thymine created from Uracil?
Methylation
How is Guanine created from Adenine?
Deamination
What do Type I Topoisomerases do?
Creates single stranded cuts in DNA, no ATP required, relaxes negative and positive supercoils in eukaryotes
What is the function of DNA helicase?
Unwind the DNA duplex during replication
What do Type II Topoisomerases do?
Creates a double stranded break, requires ATP, relieves positive and negative supercoils
What is the deal with DNA gyrase?
Gyrases are a subset of Type II Topoisomerases mostly specific to prokaryotes that introduce negative supercoils into the circular genome to facilitate replication. Antibiotic target of quinolones (novobiocin, ciprofloxacin)
What are the functions of the DNA Pol III?
5’—>3’ synthesis, 3’—>5’ exonuclease proofreading
Functions of DNA Pol I?
(1) 5’-to-3’ DNA polymerase activity
(2) 5’-to-3’ exonuclease activity for RNA primer removal
(3) 3’-to-5’ exonuclease activity for proofreading
DNA control elements? Give 3 examples.
DNA control elements act in cis.
1) TATA box (core promoter sequence.
2) Promoters (<200 bp upstream
3) enhancers (up to 50kb upstream, could be downstream, often cell-type specific)
Rifampicin mode of action
Binds bacterial RNA polymerase at the RNA exit channel and blocks it. Current moratorium on its use.
Why is eating “death cap” mushrooms (Amanita phalloides), a bad idea?
contain alpha-amanitin, a non-competitive inhibitor of RNA pol II. Blocks RNA chain elongation by preventing translocation
Syndromes associated with mutations in TFIIH (3)
Xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne’s Syndrome, Trichothiodystrophy. (TFIIH recruits NER apparatus)
Actinomycin D mode of action
Intercalates into double helix between successive CG base pairs, deforming the DNA
Coding strand
aka non-template strand or sense strand, this opposes the template strand and is NOT transcribed.
Template strand
aka antisense, anticoding, noncoding. Transcribed, complementary to mRNA.
Splice site at 5’ end of intron:
5’ GU. Marks the beginning of every intron.
Splice site at 3’ end of intron:
5’ AG. Last two bases of every intron.
Consensus sequence at poly-A site:
5’AAUAAA
Functions of 5’ cap (4)
1) protect from exonucleases
2) recruit cap binding complex
3) recognition by eIF4E for transport to ribosome
4) removal signals decay
The PolyA tail ____ eukaryotic mRNA, but ____ of prokaryotic mRNA
protects; signals decay
What does U1 snRNA do?
Recognizes GU site for intron splicing
What does U2 snRNA do?
binds to the branch point (A) on the pre-mRNA sequence between the 5’ and 3’ splice sites
Let’s talk about Marfan syndrome.
Caused by mutations that disrupt splicing of the fibrillin gene transcript (fibrillin is a connective tissue protein that is important for the integrity of the walls of the heart and blood vessels). They are tall and prone to aneurysms.
What does U2AF snRNA do?
Binds to the 3’ splice site of intron (AG)
Phosphodiester bonds link:
The 3’C and the 5’C on the backbone of DNA and RNA
Phosphoanhydride bonds
High-energy bonds between phosphate molecules on NTPs
Somatic mutations
i.e. UV damage. Not passed on, as opposed to inherited or germline mutations