Exam #3 Flashcards

1
Q

Identify/choose the most common proteins involved in regeneration from the list

A

a. Hox Genes
b. BMP (all)
c. Wnt
d. APC (adenomatous polyposis coli – signaling mechanism)

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2
Q

Define Blastema

A
  • Mix of stem & progenitor cells (totipotent/pluripotent)
  • Give rise to limbs by redifferentiation
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3
Q

Define Transdifferentiation

A

Differentiation between differentiated cells

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4
Q

Match tissue & their protein signals

A
  • Limb (FGF8 - anterior & Shh - posterior)
  • Iris (FGF2 & BMP must be inhibited)
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5
Q

Name any 4 causes of liver failure

A

Genetics, Acetaminophen overdose, Alcohol, Obesity

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6
Q

Name any 4 cell types found in the liver

A

a. Hepatocytes – specialized epithelial cell that makes up most of liver
b. Hepatocyte Stellate Cells – progenitor stem cells that respond to injury
c. Hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells – inflammation regulation, secrete anti-inflammatory molecules
d. Hepatoblasts – progenitor cells (similar to stellate – transdetermination)

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7
Q

Why are cholangiocytes important in the liver?

A

Secrete bile and important for homeostasis (change in pH)

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8
Q

Remember the pro-regenerative signals active during liver damage. (VEGF, HGF, Wnt)

A

a. VEGF is active during normal division and liver cell maintenance
b. Acts as pro-regenerative signal along with HGF and Wnt2

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9
Q

Explain the process of clinical trials required for stem cell treatment approval

A

Safety (animal testing, phase 1)
Efficacy (Phase 2)
Longterm Safety and efficacy (Phase 3)
Safety monitoring (Phase 4)

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10
Q

Mention any 2 pros and cons of using MSCs, ESCs and iPSCs for clinical applications. Which cell type might be approved 1st and why?

A

MSC (Adult Stem) – most likely to be approved 1st
Pro – thought to be less likely to be rejected if used for transplants, success has been demonstrated in various applications
Cons – Limitations on ASC ability to differentiate, cant be grown for long periods of time

ESC
Pros – Maintained and grown for 1 year or more, established protocols for maintenance in culture
Cons – Process to generate is inefficient, unsure whether they would be rejected if used in transplants

iPSCS
Pros – abundant somatic cells of donor can be used, issues of histocompatibility can be avoided
Cons – Methods for maintenance of differentiated cells are not certain, viruses are used to introduce embryonic genes and has been shown to cause cancer in mouse

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11
Q

What are nucleases? Mention the 3 most common nucleases to edit stem cells

A

Nucleases – enzyme that cleaves a chain of nucleotides in nucleic acids into smaller units

ZFNs – zinc finger nucleases
TALENS – transcription activator-like effector nucleases
CRISPR – clustered regularly interspace short palindrome repeats

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12
Q

Compare between ZFNs, TALENS and CRISPR. Which is the most efficient enzyme and why? (4 per)

A

ZFNs (nuclease)
- Fok 1 (endonuclease) to cleave DNA
- Non-specific and cleaves outside recognition sites
- High rates of off-target breaks
- High cytotoxicity & target issue

TALENS (nuclease)
- Fok1 to cleave DNA
- More conserved repeats
- Easy to design and construct
- Lower cytotoxicity

CRISPR (most efficient enzyme)
- Bacterial adaptive immunity
- Cas9 is used
- Higher efficiency
- Easily designed, more accurate

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13
Q

How does CRISPR work? Explain the function of Cas9, gRNA, PAM

A

Cas9
- Associated with CRISPR (nuclease)
- Endonuclease (Makes the cut)

gRNA
- Is used to find complementary DNA so that Cas9 can make the cut

PAM
- Protospacer Adjacent Motif
- Sequence 3 nt

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14
Q

Who won the Nobel prize for the discovery of CRISPR?

A

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna share the award for devolving the precise genome-editing technology

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15
Q

Briefly explain how CRISPR is used for Knock-in and knock-out models in stem cells (HR and NHEJ)

A

Knock- in
- Inducing mutations
- Correct mutations

Knock-out
- Inducing mutation

HDR
- Homology Directed Repair
- Gene Repair or mutations
- Precise repair mechanism that uses homologous donor DNA to repair DNA damage

NHEJ
- Non-Homologous End Joining
- Gene disruption
- Error-prone mechanism in which broken ends of DNA are joined together

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16
Q

Explain the mechanism/selection of CRISPR edited stem cells with diagram.

A

a. Bacterial Adaptive Immunity
b. Uses s-RNA guide to find complementary DNA sequence to cleave
c. Cas9 endonuclease to make cut
d. PAM (protospacer adjacent motif) sequence (3 nucleotides)

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17
Q

Describe the fix and swap mechanism of b-Thalassemia using CRISPR. Which one is more clinically translatable and why?

A

Fix Mechanism
- Using CRISPR and a DNA template to fix the mutation in the hemoglobin gene
- Alpha and beta

Swap Mechanism
- CRISPR reactivate fetal hemoglobin gene by turning off the BCL11A gene (for adult hemoglobin gene)
- Alpha and gamma

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18
Q

How was the 1st CRISPR baby produced to negate HIV?

A
  • Using IVF (HIV+ parents egg+sperm), culture embryo then use CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out CCR5 gene (core receptor that binds w/ HIV for entry into Th cell). Then implantation of the gene-edited embryo to mother/surrogate, HIV free baby is born
  • HIV Infection in babies: gp120 on HIV cant bind to CCR5 (co-receptor) meaning that although it can bind to CD4 receptor, it needs both to enter cell.
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19
Q

Any 2 advantages and disadvantages of CRISPR in treating HIV

A

Advantages
1. HIV protection/prevention
2. Decreased inflammatory responses and fibrosis

Disadvantages
1. Reduced protection against influenza
2. Early manifestation of West Nile Infection

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20
Q

CAR-T cell therapy is a more precise way to target a specific cell type. Explain the mechanism of how (from start to finish) these cells are engineered.

A

a. Collect white blood cells from patient
b. Isolate T cells
c. Engineer T cells to recognize cancer cells using CARs– insert CAR gene (chimeric antigen receptor)
d. Grow and proliferate modified T cells in culture
e. Infuse into patient
f. CAR T cells bind to cancer cells

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21
Q

Name any 2 exo and endogenous DNA damaging agents

A

Endogenous agents
- material that is present and active in an individual organism or living cell but that originated outside that organism
- diet related (bile acids), Macrophage and neutrophil produced ROS

Exogenous agents
- smoke, radiation, genotoxic, inflammation

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22
Q

Define ROS & RNS

A

ROS – Reactive Oxygen Species
- unstable molecule that contains oxygen that can easily reacts with other molecules

RNS – Reactive Nitrogen Species
- family of anti-microbial molecules

23
Q

What are the primary outcomes of damaged DNA (cellular and molecular level in stem cells?

A

Overall Outcomes – Disease Pathogenesis, Increased Apoptosis, Increased Senescence

Molecular Outcomes – Genomic Instability, Epigenetic alterations, Dysfunctional telomeres

Cellular Outcomes – Stem-cell exhaustion, cellular senescence, inflammation

24
Q

Briefly describe the diversity of stem cells and DNA damage in young and aged populations

A

Young – Healthy and asymptomatic

Old – More senescent cells with age and can become cancerous

25
Q

Compare DNA repair in Stem Cells and Somatic Cells

A

Stem Cell – HDR, increase checkpoint response

Somatic Cells – NHEJ, decrease checkpoint response

26
Q

Define a stem cell niche. Mention any 5 signals that help in self renewal and differentiation of stem cells in their niche.

A

Local microenvironment of a stem cell & helps in interacting with each other
b. Surrounding Cells
c. Exosomes
d. Lipids
e. From the extracellular matrix

27
Q

What is auto and paracrine signaling? Mention 4 causes of impaired stem cell self renewal

A

Autocrine – self signaling (self-renewal)

Paracrine – from neighboring cells (growth factors)

Causes
i. Stem cell pool exhaustion
ii. Unwanted differentiation
iii. Reduced DNA repair – transform cells
iv. Increased cell senescence

28
Q

What are intrinsic and extrinsic factors and why are they important?

A

Intrinsic Factors – Post-translational Modification (add different functional groups like methyl), Micro- RNA

Extrinsic Factors – New environment or lack of niche signals

29
Q

What is the importance of a stem cell niche?

A

a. Protection of external environment (ex. Brain is protected by BBB)
b. Controlled division
c. Their own clone/colony of stem cells

30
Q
  1. How do bone marrow cells help in regulating HSCs? (SMART)
A

a. Self Renewal
b. Maturation
c. Apoptosis
d. Resting
e. Trafficking

31
Q

Which cells surround Hematopoietic Stem Cells?

A

a. SNS Neurons
b. Bone Marrow Macrophage
c. Mesenchymal Stem Cells
d. Bone Marrow Endothelial Cell

32
Q

Describe how these cells help in HSC regulation in their niche: Osteoblasts, Osteoclasts, MSCs, Endothelial cells, Macrophages, Megakaryocytes, T-reg, Adipocytes

A

Osteoblasts
a. Important cells to maintain HSC pool
b. B-catenin, osteopontin

Osteoclasts
a. Induce osteoblast development
b. Eat osteoblasts to remodel bone

MSCs
a. Self-renewal and maintenance
b. IL-7 (growth and proliferation)

Endothelial cell
a. Self-renewal and maintenance, attachment
b. E-selectins, CXCL-12

Macrophages
a. Homing (attach)
b. Integrin subunit alpha

Megakaryocytes
a. Inhibit proliferation
b. TGF-B, thrombopoietin (CXCL 4 – blood clotting)

T-regs
a. Induce HSCs to differentiate to B cells (Ab secretion) & T cells (Th + Tc)

Adipocytes
a. Regulators of HSC differentiation (brown vs white fat cell balance)

33
Q

Describe the mechanism of Jagged-1 on HSCs. Do you see symmetric or asymmetric HSC division?

A

HSC closer to Osteoblasts – self renewal by Jagged 1 (secreted by osteoblasts)

HSC further away with osteoblasts – differentiation (No jagged 1 from osteoblasts)

34
Q

What is a capillary and a sinusoid? Why are sinusoids important for HSCs?

A

Capillary – basement membrane is completely surrounding endothelial layer

Sinusoid – lymph tissues - incomplete basement membrane (intracellular gaps - on purpose for interaction with immune cells – HSC)

35
Q

Define Proteoglycans

A

Protein that provides hydration and swelling pressure to tissue

36
Q

Define Polydendrocytes

A

NG2, population of CNS cells

37
Q

Define Crypts of Leiberkuhn

A

Where intestinal stem cells are located

38
Q

Define Paneth Cells

A

Secrete lysosomes to control bacterial proliferation

39
Q

Define Gut Enterocytes

A

For nutrient absorption like ions, water, nutrients, vtamins

40
Q

Name any 4 factors that can induce molecular aging in a mature brain

A

DNA damage, Inflammation, Cellular Stress, Epigenetics

41
Q

What cells types can Bulge Stem Cells become?

A

Dermal, stem and sebaceous gland cells

42
Q

Mention any 2 signals for NSC self-renewal by CSF, Ependymal cells, endothelium, astrocytes, neuroblasts

A

CSF
i. VEGF, PDGF-AB

Ependymal cells
i. Notch1, Jagged1

Endothelium
i. BMP, VEGF, Jagged1

Astrocytes
i. Jagged1, FGF-2, Shh

Neuroblasts
i. GABA, Notch 1

43
Q

Explain innate vs adaptive immunity

A

Innate – 1st line of defense (physical and chemical barriers)

Adaptive – 2nd line of defense (B & T cells)

44
Q

Name any 2 cell types and their functions of the lymphoid and myeloid lineages differentiated from pluri/multipotent stem cells

A

Macrophages
i. Myeloid lineage
ii. Identify and phagocytize

B Lymphocyte
i. Lymphoid Lineage
ii. Produce Ab and stores memory

45
Q

In a nutshell, explain the adaptive immune system (with diagram)

A

a. Macrophage detect pathogen & phagocytize
b. Antigen peptides are then presented to Th and Tc cells
c. Th activate B cells to secrete Ab
d. Tc kill the cells directly by binding and killing them (granzyme to induce apoptosis)

46
Q

Identify T-cell and B-cell induced diseases (choose from the given list)

A

CD 8+ (Tc)
i. Rheumatoid arthritis
ii. MS
iii. Crohns
iv. Psoriasis
v. Hashimoto’s (thyroid)

B Cells
i. Lupus
ii. Graves

47
Q

Define Autologous

A

i. Same donor and recipient
ii. BM Stem cells, Adipose Stem cells

48
Q

Define Allogenic

A

i. Donor is different
ii. UCMSCs

49
Q

Define HLA

A

Human Leucocyte Antigen
proteins on cells to let your I.S know which are self vs. non-self

50
Q

What is MHC? How many main classes of MHC are present? Mention 2 cell types for each MHC class molecules.

A

Major histocompatibility complex
MHC I
i. found in all nucleated cells
MHC II
i. Dendritic cells, B cells & macrophage

51
Q

Mention the subtypes of class 1 and class 2 MHC

A

CLASS I
i. HLA A, B, C

CLASS II
i. HLA DRB1,3,4, HLA-DQA1, HLA-DQB1,HLA-DPA1, HLA-DPB1

52
Q

Define microgravity

A

a. Condition where cells appear to be almost weightless
b. Changes the gene expression in cells

53
Q

Mention 5 ways of obtaining microgravity (mention the quality/conditions of microgravity and time felt by objects in microgravity).

A

a. Drop tower – excellent – 5-10 seconds
b. Suborbital spaceflights – good – 5-10 seconds
c. Parabolic Flight – good – 20 seconds
d. Orbital – excellent – endless
e. Artificial – good for bio sample – endless but not real conditions

54
Q

Briefly explain RhoA and Rac1 dynamics under short and long exposure to ug and at 1G

A

Short Term
i. RhoA – inhibited to adapt to changes in cell shape
ii. Rac 1 – induces ROS which activates detachment

Long Term
i. RhoA and Rac 1 are inhibited & can activate apoptosis after detachment (Rac 1)