Leys Material Flashcards
Cells acquire nucleotides through what two processes?
De novo synthesis and salvage pathway
De novo synthesis of purines results in what?
Synthesis of inosine that can be converted into adenosine and guanosine
Atoms in newly synthesized purines are derived from what sources? (3)
Amino acids aspartate, glutamine, and glycine, methyl groups supplied by folic acid, and carbon dioxide
What two things regulate the de novo synthesis of purines at multiple points in the pathway?
ADP and GDP
Hypoxanthine and guanine can be recycled through the salvage pathway with what enzyme?
Hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT)
Xanthine oxidase catalyzes a hydroxylase type reaction leading to the formation of what?
Uric acid that can be excreted
What is the main cause of gout?
Excess uric acid
What are two main reasons one would have excess uric acid in their system?
Excess production or low levels of secretion
Crystallization of Sodium urate in the joints leads to what?
A localized inflammatory response
What is used to treat gout? Hint, it is a purine analog.
Allopurinol, that hint didn’t help at all did it…
What does allopurinol do during treatment?
This is used to treat gout and does so by inhibiting xanthine oxidase which prevents the formation of uric acid.
A HGPRT deficiency causes what syndrome?
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome that results in severe retardation, crippling gouty arthritis and self-mutilation
Lesch-Nyhan occurs in what sex and why?
Males only because the HGPRT gene is located on the X chromosome
The breakdown of purines can replenish intermediates used in what cycle?
TCA, through the production of fumarate
The atoms in a purine ring are derived from what?
Aspartate and carbamoyl phosphate
The first 3 enzymes in the synthesis of pyrimidines are located on the same protein which is what?
CAD protein
What pyrimidines can be interconverted?
U and C
dUMP is converted to TMP by what enzyme and what does it do?
Thymidylate synthase, an enzyme requiring the transfer of a methyl group from tetrahydrofolate
Inhibitors of tetrahydrofolate production are used as therapeutic agents for treating what?
Cancer and bacterial infections
Fluro substituted pyrimidine analogs that inhibit thymidylate synthase are used to as what?
Anticancer agents
Ribonucleotide reductase converts ribonucleotides to what?
Deoxyribonucleotides
What are the base pairs in DNA and RNA?
DNA: A-T; G-C
RNA: A-U; G-C
Homologous regions of DNA can be compared among different species to determine what?
Phylogenetic relationships
Closely related organisms contain similar DNA compliments, so what is the main genetic difference between them?
They are often arranged differently on the chromosomes of each species
The living world is made up of what 3 divisions, or domains?
Bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes
What are the 4 main processes for generating change in a genome?
Intragenic mutation (single base change), gene duplication, DNA segment shuffling, horizontal transfer (from one cell to another).
Bacterial genes are usually clustered into groups called what?
Operons, that are then transcribed as a single unit
What are the noncoding parts of DNA called?
Introns
What are the coding parts of DNA called?
Exons
In a comparison of the same gene in several closely related species will the exons and introns be similar?
The exons will generally be very similar (conserved) but the introns will vary in size and content
Do bacterial genes have non coding portions?
No, it is very dense with coding information
Is most of the DNA in higher eukaryotes coding or noncoding?
Noncoding, most of the genome is repeated sequences that are mobile elements that can move around in the genome