Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

My MCAT > Gene Expression and Laboratory Techniques > Flashcards

Gene Expression and Laboratory Techniques Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
MCAT flashcards
1
Q

What is the first step in oncogenesis?

A

Tumor initiation

involves changes that allow a single cell to proliferate abnormally; cell bypasses regulatory steps of cell cycle that normally prevent proliferation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

occurs as a cell develops the ability to proliferate even more aggressively as its descendants are preferentially selected for and come to predominate the growing tumor

A

tumor progression

malignant cells often unergo mutations allowing them to secrete growth factors to stimulate their own growth

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

when cancer cells gain the ability to migrate to other parts of the body

A

metastasis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what enzymes in a cancerous body digests components of the extracellular matrix and favor metastasis?

A

proteases

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

promotion of growth of new blood vessels

in cancerous body, these vessels feed the growing tumor

A

angiogenesis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

mutagenic compounds

A

carcinogens

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

____ is associated with mutations that occur by random chance, as a result of carcinogens, and/or the dysregulation of gene expression

A
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Name the RNA

what type of RNA activity is abnormal in cancerous cells

A

miRNA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

induces the growth of proliferative cells by stimulating te activity of proteins involved in growth and division

A

tumor promoters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

genes that promote abnormal growth and proliferation

A

oncogenes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

genes that function to prevent tumorigenic properties

A

tumor suppressor genes

mutation-induced dysfunction -> cell cannot protect itself

main functions: repressing expression of genes that are essential to cell cycle progression, ensuring cell responds appropriately to DNA damage at cell cycle checkpoints, repairing DNA damage, preventing changes in adhesion & proliferation involved metastasis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What are the two main genes involved in oncogenesis?

A
  1. oncogenes
  2. tumor suppressor genes
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

a cancer-causing virus

A

tumor virus

e.g Hepatitis B (liver cancer)

many tumor viruses contain retroviral oncogenes, which are reverse-transcribed into the DNA of infected cells. These oncogenes i.e RAS,RAF, and SRC often encode proteins that are key components of signaling pathways that stimulate cell proliferation. Tumor viruses can also hinder the correct function of tumor suppressor genes or promote the function of oncogenes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

genes that code for growth factors, receptor tyrosine kinases, transcription factors, and regulatory GTPases. They function as oncogenes after mutation or inapropriately elevated expression

A

proto-oncogenes

turns into oncogene if it mutates in a way that increases its activity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

TP53 is a ____ gene that encodes the p53 protein involved in responding appropriately to cell damage

A

tumor suppressor

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

the ____ gene is implicated in half of human cancers

A

TP53

encodes the p53 protein involved in responding appropriately to cell damage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

the ____ genes are responsible for repairing and responding to DNA damage

A

BRCA

implicated in breast and ovarian cancers, have heridary bases

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

DNA sequence that upregulates

A

enhancer

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

DNA sequence that downregulates

A

silencer

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

regulatory proteins

A

transcription factors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

covalent modifications of histones that upregulates gene expression

A

acetylation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

covalent modifications of nucleotides that downregulates gene expression

A

methylation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

non-coding RNA sequences that downregulate gene expression

A

siRNA, and miRNA

24
Q

what’s another name for a restriction enzyme

A

restriction endonuclease

25
Q

enzymes that cleave DNA at specific recognition sites

A

restriction endonucleases

26
Q

4 to 8 base pair sequences that are recognized by a restriction enzyme to cleave DNA. Have symmetry of palindromic sequences

A

recognition site

27
Q

when a sequence of nucleotides of complementary strands of DNA read the same in both directions, either from the 5-prime end or the 3-prime end

A

palindromic sequences

28
Q

describe blunt vs sticky ends in relation to restriction enzymes

A

blunt ends: when restriction endonucleeases cleaves a DNA sequnce vertically across the recognition site
sticky ends: when restriction endonecleases cleaves a DNA sequence in a zig-zag fashion

29
Q

What is the significance of restriction enzymes?

A

They cut DNA into fragments that can be “tied” back together by DNA ligase w/o necessariy respecting the original location of the sequences (recombination)

30
Q

DNA molecules used to carry genetic material into a cell where it can be replicated or expressed. Used in DNA recombination processes

A

vectors

plasmids and bacteriophages

31
Q

vectors in the form of viruses that infect bacteria. They strip out non-essential genes to carry recombinant sequences

A

bacteriophages

32
Q

short circular DNA molecules that can replicate independently in bacteria

A

plasmids

recombinant plasmids carrying human DNA inseerts can be introudiced into E.coli where they replicate along with the bacteria to yield millions of copies of plasmid DNA. The plasmid DNA can then be isolated, generating recombinant molecules containing a single fragment of human DNA that can be analyzed and further manipulated

33
Q

Describe the steps in the DNA cloning process

A
  1. Host plasmid is cleaved by restriction enzyme
  2. DNA fragment of interest is inserted into plasmid
  3. Plasmid is annealed by DNA ligase
  4. Recombinated DNA is introduced to a bacteria
  5. Bacteria carrying the plasmid are selected and reproduce
  6. Bacteria replicate the plasmid and pass it on to their offspring, making copies of the DNA it contains
  7. DNA/protein is eventually harvested and purified for use
34
Q

antibiotic genes that can kill of bacteria cells that did not take up plasmids, so only cells with plasmid remain

during DNA cloning/purifying process

A

antibiotic resistance gene

35
Q

genes that distinguish betwen recombinant and non-recombinant plasmids

during DNA cloning process

A

reporter genes

these genes code for a product that creates a obvious phenotypic change (i.e change in color) and contains recognition sites for restriction enzymes that is used in restriction. Thus, E.coli with non-recombinant plasmids will express the reprter gene normally, but those with recombinant plasmids will not, allowing them to be distinguished and subcultured

36
Q

Name the process

What does this image depict?

A

DNA recombination via plasmid vector

37
Q

Explain why a researcher may want to use a bacteriophage instead of a plasmid as a vector

A

bacteriophages can be used for longer sequences. Plasmids generally contain 2-4kb of DNA, bacteriophages can contain up to 15kb

38
Q

RNA sequences can be cloned through the generation of ______

A

complementary DNA (cDNA)

39
Q

which enzyme can synthesize a DNA copy of RNA?

A

reverse transcriptase

40
Q

Descripte the steps in RNA cloning

A
  1. synthezize DNA copy of RNA (cDNA) via reverse trancriptase
  2. cDNA is ligated to vector DNA
41
Q

an organism whose genome has been modified

A

transgenic organism

for research purposes

42
Q

organism in which one or more genes have been disabled

A

knockout organism

for research purposes

43
Q

involves splicing a functional allele into the cells of a patient with nonfunctional alleles, devastating genetic disorders

A

gene therapy

44
Q

special cells that have the ability to develop into many different cell types, from muscle cells to brain cells

A

stem cells

45
Q

a laboratory method used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA, or proteins according to molecular size and/or charge

A

gel electrophoresis

note: nucleic acids have a high degree of negative charge, thus they will migrate from cathode and towards anode
note #2: there is an inverse relationship between molecular size and distance migrated

46
Q

molecular-weight size markers that can be run parallel to the DNA of interest in an electrophoresis experiment to identify the approxiate size of the DNA fragments analyzed

A

ladders

47
Q

the ability of a single strand DNA or RNA to join with complementary base pair sequences

A

hybridization

important for PCR, watch KA video

48
Q

a specific DNA or RNA fragment that can be labeled radioactively. These are used to detect the presence of nucleotide sequences in analyzed RNA or DNA that are complementary to the sequence in the _____

A

hybridization probe

49
Q

technology used to identify specific **DNA ** sequences

A

southern blotting

1. take DNA -> cleave 2. gel electrophoresis 3. transfer to the filter 4. expose to radiolabled DNA

link

50
Q

technology used to identify specific RNA sequences

A

northern blotting

p. 118

51
Q

a laboratory technique used to detect a specific **protein **in a blood or tissue sample.

A

Western blotting

52
Q

microscope slides that are printed with thousands of tiny spots in defined positions, with each spot containing a known DNA sequence or gene

A

DNA microarray

53
Q

Uses dideoxynucleotides to terminate synthesis ad elecrophoresis to analyze fragment size

A

Sanger sequencing

link

54
Q

a short piece of single-stranded DNA that binds to the template DNA and acts as a “starter” for the polymerase

A

primer

55
Q

used to make exponentially large number sof copies of DNA in a short amount of time using primers

A

polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

56
Q

What are differences between Sanger sequencing and PCR?

A

Sanger sequencing is used to generate every possible length of DNA up to the full length of the target DNA while PCR is used to duplicate the entire DNA sequence

My MCAT (30 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions