Exam 1 - Lecture 3 Flashcards
Mutations
What is a mutation?
a structural change in genomic DNA which can be transmitted from a parental cell to its daughter cells
What is the difference between germline and somatic mutation?
Germline mutation: present in the gamete
Somatic mutation: present in the somatic cell
What are the types of mutations?
1a. Point mutations (coding)
1b. Regulatory point mutations
1c. Alternative splicing
2a. Deletions/insertions
3. Retrotransposition-related problems
4. Unstable repeat expansion
Substitution mutation
Substitutions will only affect a single codon
Their effects may not be serious unless they affect an amino acid that is essential for the structure and function of the finished protein molecule (e.g. sickle cell anaemia)
silent mutation
A silent mutation has no effect on the phenotype (many exclusions present)
What codons resist mutations more than others?
VAL (valine): GUU, GUA, GUC, GUG
What is an example of missense mutation?
Sickle cell anemia
What is an example of a nonsense mutation?
Familial Hypercholsterolemia (LDLR)
Why does LDLR not make it into the membrane?
when a Protein is too short, It can not fold properly, and Because of that, LDLRs never make it into the membrane and got degraded in ER
How is sickle cell causes?
The change in amino acid sequence causes hemoglobin molecules to crystallize when oxygen levels in the blood are low. As a result, red blood cells sickle and get stuck
in small blood vessels
What is an example of a frame shift mutation?
cystic fibrosis
How is cystic fibrosis caused?
Protein amino acid sequence is shifted, Plus it is too short due to unexpected stop-codon.
It can not fold properly. Because of that, CFTR channel never make it into the membrane and got degraded in ER
What is the function of CFTR protien?
a Cl- channel
What is nonsense medicate mRNA Decay?
Detection of the presence of a premature stop codon in the mRNA that initiates mRNA degradation
What are the 2 forms of damage control for mutated genes?
- mRNAs with pre-mature stop codons got degraded: no protein synthesized
- If truncated protein synthesized, it often degrades in ER before delivery to membrane
What is the importance of damage control?
If the truncated protein is not going to function anyway, We better save resources on its synthesis and delivery to proper location. Also, it might possess novel, cell-damaging function.
What are the types point mutations?
frameshift nonsense missense substitution silent
What does regulatory mutations affect?
Affects promoters, or other regulatory sequences of the gene
What are purposes of duffy blood group proteins?
an antigen
a receptor for chemokines
a receptor for Plasmodium vivax malaria parasites
What are some examples of regulatory mutations?
lactose intolerance
Duffy gene
What is prodynorphin locus (PDYN)?
Encodes opioid neuropeptide precursor for endogenous ligands for opiate receptor: balances “pleasure” genes
What does PDYN do?
- mediate the anticipation and experience of pain
- influence social attachment and bonding behaviour
- affect learning and memory
What does PDYN influence?
Schizophrenia
cocaine addiction
epilepsy
What is DARC
A Chemokine receptor that allows people to be resistant to infection with malaria
What is an example of splicing site mutation?
phenylketonuria
What are large deletions and insertions?
unequal crossing-over events, and retrotransposition
small deletion and insertions
Account for approximately 22% of all known mutations
Often results from slippage of DNA replication
Can be in-frame, if the number of deleted/inserted nucleotides is divisible by three
What does slippage of DNA result in?
This will cause misalignment producing a loop in the nascent strand and increase the repeat length. Alternatively, the same will take place but on the template strand (right) causing a decrease of repeat length
What are the 2 possible outcomes of in-frame deletions?
- Protein is too short, and It is unable to fold properly, and Because of it, protein gets degraded in ER.
Example: ΔF508 1 aa del in CFTR protein - Protein is too short, but It still folds OK. It functions, but not so great
What is Duchenne Dystrophy?
A Missense mutation of 1 bp that changes the conformation of the protein, and renders it non-functional (death at 12-16 years old)
What is Becker Dystrophy?
a In-frame deletion of 2000 bp, rendering the Middle part of the protein gone. Proteins are functional (mild symptoms, live till 60th)
What are large deletion and insertions?
Range in size from 20 bp to 10 Mb (after that they classify as chromosomal abnormalities, as they become visible in light microscope)
Account for approximately 5-6% of all known mutations
What are the ways that unequal crossing-over can occur
between 2 chromosomes, or on the same chromosome
What can unequal corssing-over cause?
May cause a disruption of entire gene, change gene structure, produce fusion of genes
What are the transposable elements in the human genome?
- SINEs (non-autonomous)
- LINEs (autonomous)
What are the results of retrotransposition?
May directly disrupt genes; May provoke illegitemate recombination by homology
3) Contain regulatory sequences
Promoters, Enhancers, Splicing sites, and/or Transcription factor binding sites
These sites can be brought close to the gene
and change its regulation
What are the problems with retrotransposon elements?
33 retrotransposition events identified result in human disease (hemophilia A and B, ß-thalassemia, muscular dystrophy)
What are the ways that transposons can cause problems?
may disrupt integrity of regulatory sites, or the protein sequence
What are the disease that can come about as a result of unstable repeat expansion?
Either suppresses expression of the gene (Fragile X), or it Either results in the production of abnormal toxic product (Huntington disease)
What does unstable repeat expansion cause?
Unstable repeat expansion causes suppression of FMR1 gene and results in Fragile X syndrome
How does expanded repeats cause disease?
Repeats in protein coding sequences = toxic proteins;
Repeats in RNA coding regions = altered RNA function;
Repeats in non-coding regions = reduced transcription or translation
What are the functional classifications of mutations?
- Loss-of-Function mutations
- Haploinsufficiency
- Dominant negative mutations - Gain-of-function mutations
What can loss-of-function mutations cause?
Loss-of-function mutations often cause recessive traits such as halpoinsufficenicey