Hypoxia models Flashcards
Explain the adaptation strategy of barheaded geese to low oxygen environment ?
The barheaded goose has a substitution of proline at position 119 for alanine at position 119 in the alpha subunit of hemoglobin. This subtitution allows for the equilibrium to change more towards the R (relaxed) state, which results in higher oxygen affinity.
What are the 3 functions of hemoglobin ?
Oxygen transport
Carbon dioxide transport
Buffering
What is the general structure of hemoglobin ?
Hemoglobin is a protein consisting of 4 subunits, with each subunit containing a heme group and a globin protein.
Describe the oxygen and carbon dioxide transport functions of hemoglobin.
Oxygen : hemoglobin binds to oxygen in the lungs where oxygen concentration is high. It then releases oxygen in the tissues.
Carbon dioxide : Transports carbon dioxide, a waste product of cellular respiration from the tissues back to the lungs.
Explain the lack of hemoglobin in antarctic icefishes ?
These fish lack hemoglobin for their environment is very rich in oxygen (cold water). Their metabolic rate is also lower, reducing their oxygen needs. Their heart size is increased to pump more blood and is accompanied by higher cardiac output. Blood volume as well as capillaries size is increased.
How does a luciferase assay work ?
A luciferase assay measures the activity of luciferase, an enzyme that produces bioluminescence. It is paired with a promoter gene that comes before.
What are the main steps of a plasmid isolation protocol ?
- Cell harvesting
- Cell lysis
- Clearing the lysate
- Binding of plasmid DNA
- Washing
- Elution
What is the point of lysing the cells ?
The adding of buffers breaks open the bacterial cells, releasing the plasmid DNA in the solution.
What is the point of clearing the lysate ?
We clear the lysate by centrifuging the debris (pellet), leaving the plasmid DNA in the supernatant.
What does the binding of plasmid DNA step do ?
It binds the plasmid DNA onto the silica membrane. Once the column is washed, it will remove contaminants but the plasmid DNA will remain bound to the silica membrane.
What does an Immunoprecipitation do ?
IP is a technique used to isolate specific proteins or protein complexes from a complex mixture based on an antigen-antibody interaction.
What’s the difference between transduction, transfection and transformation ?
Transduction : Adeno or lentivirus, permanent
Transfection : Cells, use of plasmids, 48-72hrs because lysosomes eventually get rid of plasmid
Transformation : bacteria
How can an immunoprecipitation be used to observe the interaction of 2 proteins ?
Co-IP : an antibody that specifically recognizes one of the proteins is incubated alongside the protein of interest. Agarose beads are added to bind to the antibody-protein complex. Elution to recuperate bound proteins and any associated partners. Analysis with Western blot or mass spectrometry.
If an overexpessed transcription factor is found, how can we observe its effect?
By using knockouts or knockdowns with CRISPR-Cas9, transduction, transformation, transfection, TALEN…
What are the advantages and disadvantages of CRISPR-Cas9 ?
It’s a permanent change but lots of offtargets mutations can be caused. It is however generally safe.