Lecture 1 Introduction

Question 1

What is developmental biology concerned with?

Answer 1

How the fertilised egg gives rise to a fully formed organism

Question 2

Over development what 3 different states of potency does a cell go through?

Answer 2

Totipotent
Multipotent
Unipotent

Question 3

Totipotent cells can generate …

Answer 3

Extraembryonic structures

Intraembryonic structures

Question 4

Describe extraembryonic structures

Answer 4

Membranes surrounding the embryo

Question 5

Which cells are pluripotent? What do these cells make?

Answer 5

Inner mass cells and the cells straight after implantation

They make the embryonic proper

Question 6

Define cell differentiation

Answer 6

Stepwise cell specialisation

Question 7

Define cell potency

Answer 7

Ability of a cell to differentiate into another type of cell

Question 8

Describe the cell at day 0-1

Answer 8

zygote = first diploid cell to arise following fertilisation

Question 9

Describe the cell at day 2-3

Answer 9

Morula

Question 10

Describe the cell at day 5

Answer 10

Blastocyst

Question 11

Describe the 3 different types of cells found in a blastocyst

Answer 11

Inner cell mass = embryo proper
Trophectoderm = gives rise to extraembryonic tissues
Blastocoel = fluid-filled cavity

Question 12

What occurs after the blastocyst stage

Answer 12

Implantation

Question 13

Describe the cell at day 15

Answer 13

Postimplantation epiblast

Question 14

What are stem cells drivers of?

Answer 14

Embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis

Question 15

What do stem cells reside in

Answer 15

Stem cell niches

Question 16

What 2 routes can stem cells take in a niche and in response to which signals

Answer 16

Signal X –> self renewal

Signal Y/Z –> embryonic stem cells or iPS cells can give rise to an array of specialised cell types

Question 17

Stem cells exhibit multiple degrees of ….

Answer 17

potency

Question 18

How do scientists culture embryonic stem cells which are pluripotent?

Answer 18

Mimicking the signals that keep the cells in a self-renewing, pluripotent state

Question 19

How are induced pluripotent stem cells produced?

Answer 19

In reprogramming, overexpressing 4 TF that are normally found in early embryos allows adult cells e.g. skin cells to be converted back to a pluripotent state

Question 20

Applications of pluripotent stem cells

Answer 20

Cell replacement therapy
Disease modelling
Drug screening
Modelling embryonic development

Question 21

What is the turnover rate like in the intestinal epithelium

Answer 21

Constant turnover

Question 22

What drives the turnover in the intestinal epithelium

Answer 22

Cells in the intestinal crypt (at the base of the villi)

Question 23

Define senescence

Answer 23

Age related decline in function

Question 24

Name 2 things that induce senescence

Answer 24

DNA damage

Reactive oxygen species

Question 25

Define regeneration

Answer 25

Ability of the fully developed organism to replace organs by growth/repatterning of existing tissues

Question 26

Define growth

Answer 26

Predominantly by cell proliferation in response to signals

Question 27

How many phases are there in the cell cycle

Answer 27

4 phases | and a resting phase named G0

Question 28

What occurs in uncontrolled proliferation

Answer 28

Cancer

Question 29

What 2 things are vital for the cell cycle

Answer 29

CDK and Cyclins

Question 30

Define oncogene

Answer 30

Gene which are capable of transforming a normal cell into a tumour cell

Question 31

Example of an oncogene

Answer 31

MYCN

Question 32

What is associated with mutations in MYCN

Answer 32

Neuroblastoma - common solid tumour in infants and young children usually found in the adrenal glands

Question 33

Where do neuroblastomas originate

Answer 33

Embryonic cell type called the neural crest which generates peripheral neurones

Question 34

What is associated with aggressive neuroblastomas

Answer 34

High levels of the TF (MYCN)

Question 35

What does ectopic overexpression of MYCN in normal neural crest cells lead to

Answer 35

Neuroblastoma-like tumours

Question 36

Define tumour-suppressor genes

Answer 36

Restrict cell proliferation

Question 37

Example of tumour-suppressor gene

Answer 37

p53

Question 38

What is p53 described as

Answer 38

Guardian of the genome

Question 39

Normal function of p53

Answer 39

DNA damage and repair - induces the arrest of the cell cycle and if damage is too great, commits the cell to apoptosis

Question 40

Mice with mutations in p53 have ...

Answer 40

Higher incidence of tumours

Question 41

Define pharmogenetics

Answer 41

Study of individual gene-drug interactions, usually one or two genes, which have a dominant effect on a drug response

Question 42

Define pharmacogenomics

Answer 42

Study of genomic influence on drug response often using high throughput data

Question 43

Many tumours in adults and children are driven by...

Answer 43

stem cell components that keep the cancer growing continuously