MCBG Flashcards
Difference between nucleotide and nucleoside?
Nucleotide is phosphate + base + sugar
Nucleoside is base + sugar
Describe processes of PMAT
Prophase - chromosomes condense and spindles appear
Prometaphase - spindles attach to chromosomes
Metaphase - chromosomes line up
Anaphase- sister chromatids separate
Telophase- nuclear membrane reforms, chromosomes decondense
+ Cytokinesis - cytoplasm divides
Difference between centrosomes and centromeres?
Centromeres join sister chromatids in a chromosome and centrosomes are what mitotic spindles are attached to at the poles of the cell
What is chromosome condensation?
During DNA replication DNA is stored as chromatin but during mitosis it condenses to become chromosomes
What is a telomere?
Repeated sequence at the end of chromatids (e.g. TTAGGG) that will protect it from damage like the caps at the end of shoelaces
When do crossing over and random assortment occur?
Crossing over in prophase I, random assortment is metaphase I
What is karyotyping?
Number and appearance of chromosomes
What is mitotic nondisjunction?
Where a chromosome doesn’t split into sister chromatids and get pulled to separate poles, so it results in aneuploidy (cell with more or less than 46 chromosomes)
What is mosaicism?
Presence of cells with different number of chromosomes than other cells in same body
Roughly describe meiosis
Meiosis I - diploid cell divides into 2 haploid cells
Meiosis II - 2 haploid cells become 4 haploid cells (essentially mitosis)
What is the official name for “jumping genes”?
Transposable element (transposons)- can change their place in the genome, sometimes to create or fix mutations
Which direction is mRNA synthesised?
5’ to 3’
Which direction is DNA read?
3’ to 5’
What are histones?
DNA is wrapped around histones to make a nucleosome (the structural unit of chromatin)
RNA polymerase
Poly A tail and cap
Types of RNA?
messenger, transfer, and ribosome
What is splicing?
Introns are removed from preRNA but exons stay, forming an mRNA (still with poly A tail and cap)
What happens after splicing?
mRNA leaves through nuclear pore
What does tRNA do?
Each tRNA attaches to one amino acid in the cytoplasm
amino acyl tRNA synthetase attaches a tRNA to an amino acid. Then a ribosome (rRNA) will join together the tRNA:amino acid with mRNA
Where does ribosome attach?
Ribosome attaches to cap region of mRNA moving towards the polyA tail
What are the EPA sites of a ribosome?
A is attachment, E is exit; ribosome moves towards the polyA tail. If
What are codons and anticodons?
3 nucleotides on mRNA are codons and 3 nucleotides of tRNA are anticodons
What are the EPA sites of a ribosome?
A is attachment, P is polypeptide, E is exit; ribosome moves towards the polyA tail. If a tRNA matches the codon the ribosome is on it will attach at A site
What are codons and anticodons?
3 nucleotides on mRNA are codons and 3 nucleotides of tRNA are anticodons
Where does RNA polymerase bind?
Binds to mRNA at the TATA box (signals where transcription should begin)
Describe the rough processes involved in making proteins
DNA replication in nucleus, then transcription where DNA is converted into pre-mRNA then splicing to remove introns then mRNA formed (transcription), then mRNA exits the nucleus and tRNA with amino acid joins and ribosome makes it happen, makes a chain of amino acids.
What is the wobble position?
5’ base of anticodon and 3’ base of codon where more than one codon can be recognised
What enzyme joins tRNA with its amino acid?
Aminoacyl tRNA synthatase
Tell me about formation of rRNA and its structure
Made in the nucleolus, 2 subunits (one large one small), formation with RNA polymerase I
How is translation terminated?
With stop codons e.g. UAA, UGA, UAG
Name sources of ionising radiation
Radon gas, gamma rays, CT scan, cosmic rays
Give examples of types of single nucleotide mutations (point mutations)
Transition mutation: change to same type of base e.g. purine-purine (AG) or pyrimidine-pyrimidine (CTU)
Transversion: change to different type of base
May be a silent, neutral or synonymous change
What are purines?
Pure As Gold (AG)
Name the four types of chromosomal mutations
Deletion, insertion (sister chromatid gives some of itself to other), inversion (some attaches backwards), translocation (part of one chromosome gives to another chromosome)
Why is mtDNA more prone to somatic mutations?
Limited repair abilities (x10 higher mutation rate!)
Symptoms of mitochondrial disease?
Muscle weakness, cardiomyopathy, WPW, liver failure, kidney problems, exercise intolerance, sensorineural deafness
How do primordial germ cells proliferate?
Mitosis
In general, what effect do AR and AD mutations have?
AR decreased function of gene, AD increased function of gene
What is sickle cell?
Mutation in HBB gene that codes for beta-globin with a single base substitution (missense mutation) on chromosome 11 that changes codon 7 of HBB from Glutamate-Valine.
What is a missense mutation?
One that changes the amino acid that is coded
How do you test for sickle cell?
Use Southern blot with a restriction enzyme (called MstII) to bind to the mutated DNA sequence. Can also use electrophoresis
What are the types of chromatin?
Heterochromatin (more condensed, inactive, has methyl groups) and euchchromatin (active, light, less condensed, has acetyl).
What is a solenoid?
Type of DNA organisation with heterochromatin (the inactive heavy type) formed by the winding of 5 nucleosomes. 30nm size
Name the nucleosides and nucleotides for RNA and DNA
RNA:
adenosine AMP, guanosine GMP, uradine UMP, cytidine CMP
DNA:
deoxyadensine dAMP, deoxyguanosine dGMP, deoxythymidine dTMP, deoxycytidine dCMP
What is a phosphodiester bond?
Links the 3’ of the above ribose/deoxyribose with the 5’ of the ribose/deoxyribose below , including the two ester bonds between the phosphate and each sugar
At what stages does cell content and DNA get replicated?
Cell content replicated in G1, DNA replication is S
How do you get to be a leading strand?
DNA polymerase only adds nucleotides on the 3’ end of the template so this strand leads and the other one lags
What enzymes are involved in DNA replication?
Helicase unzips, DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to copy strand, primase generates small RNA strands that DNA polymerase can then add to, ligase binds up Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand
Why do we make dNTPs?
So deoxyribose nucleoside triphosphate- need 3 phosphates when we are building a DNA strand because DNA polymerase will then use the energy from those two extra phosphates for the phosphodiester bond that creates the backbone
Name types of DNA replicative stress (insufficient replication leading to slowing or breaking)
Replication machinery defect e.g. SLIPPAGE where nucleotide is missed or added
Hindered fork progression e.g. DNA lesions, fragile/oncogene sites
Defect in response to problem e.g. Base excision repair defect so SSBs persist, BRCA deficiency so DSBs persist
Give an example of a disease caused by DNA replicative stress
Werner’s - progeroid syndrome (premature ageing) caused by defect in Werner protein which is a helicase
BRCA-deficiency associated breast and ovarian cancer: BRCA involved in DNA repair of DSBs
What is the most common cause of polyploidy?
Polyspermy (arises from non-disjunction at meiosis)
What causes mosaicism?
MITOTIC non-disjunction
What is robertsonian translocation?
In 2 acrocentric chromosomes (i.e. long q arms) the two long arms fuse together and the short arms fuse and are lost
What is FISH?
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation- probe DNA e.g. green signal for normal control and red signal for probe of interest e.g. use it for DiGeorge syndrome with deletion on chromosome 22
What is uniparental disomy?
Both sets of chromosomes inherited from one parent (happens after trying to repair a trisomy)
What is non invasive prenatal testing (NIPT)?
Detect cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma for likelihood of common aneuploidies: Down’s, Turner’s, Edwards
Tell me about Huntingdon’s
CAG repeat on HTT gene, onset earlier each gen, test with PCR, get seizures, personality changes, dementia
What is translocation and what problems can result from it during meiosis?
Part of one chromosome swapped for part of another. If the translocation is alternate (i.e. giving rise to one fully normal pair and one completely translocated pair) it is viable. If it is adjacent (i.e. you get half and half translocated with a large amount deleted and a large amount duplicated) this is not viable.
Name types of DNA repair for single stranded breaks and what they are used for
BER Base excision repair for weird stuff e.g. U in DNA
MMR Mismatch repair e.g. G + T
NER Nucleotide excision repair for UV damage T-T dimers
Name DSB repair mechanisms
NHEJ (non-homologous end joining)- Ku70/80 attaches to both ends of the DSB and they are joined together. Its non-homologous because we’re not using another identical strand to repair, we’re just pasting them together.
The other methods are all homologous:
SSA (single strand annealing)- exonucleases chop more off each strand until they reach a repeat sequence and those repeat sequences will anneal together
SDSA (synthesis dependent strand annealing)- one of the strands uses another chromosome to make a copy and when it finds a homologous segment will bind, copy, then unbind and then its partner that is also broken will copy from its fixed partner.
DSBR- follows SDSA initially with resection, strand invasion and DNA synthesis, but then differs as the other broken partner also comes in for DNA synthesis, creating 2 Holliday junctions. They then resolve by moving back or crossing over.
Do SDSA and DSBR lead to crossover or non crossover products?
SDSA always non-crossover (because only 1 Holliday junction)
DSBR either crossover or non-crossover
How does p53 link to cancer?
Its a tumour suppressor gene mutated in many cancers
What causes HNPCC (hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer)
A mutation in a gene e.g. PMS2, which is a mismatch repair gene
Characteristics of most cancer cells?
Aneuploid and chromosomally unstable with centrosome amplification and oncogenes
What is centrosome amplification?
Multiple centrosomes which then leads to multipolar spindles and then aneuploidy
How can cancer cells hide their centrosome amplification?
By centrosome clustering: the multiple centrosomes cluster in poles to appear pseudo-bipolar. Chemotherapy can inhibit centrosome clustering so the centrosome amplification is easier to spot
What are blood types A and B and what are they coding for?
Codominant. Both are dominant over O. Coding for glycoproteins on the surface of RBCs
Males are _____ for any alleles on their one X chromosome
Hemizygous (only 1 allele)