Midterm 1 Flashcards
benign
-grows slowly
-low mitotic index
-well-defined border
-not invasive
-doesn’t metastasize
-can be removed surgically
malignant
-grows rapidly
-high mitotic index
-not defined/not encapsulated
-invasive
-spreads distantly (metastasis)
solid tumors
-epithelia (carcinoma)
-connective tissue (sarcomas)
-nervous system (neuroectodermal tumors)
diffuse tumors
blood tumors
-leukemia, lymphoma
somatic mutation theory (SMT)
-mutations gives cell a growth advantage
-leads to clonal expansion
-successive mutations giving greater advantages and more clonal expansion
cancer in the context of evolution
- mutation gives cell competitive advantage
- selective pressures from body prevent mutation from growing
- the only cells that survive are the ones that randomly mutate to be resistant
driver mutation
causes/contributes to oncogenesis
passenger mutation
accumulate due to poor genome maintenance in cancer cells, but incidental to cancer phenotype
-outnumber driver mutations
cancer=mutation+opportunity
-not every cell with a mutation becomes cancer
-not every cell with an oncogenic mutation becomes cancer
what are experimental models to study cancer?
-cell culture (yeast, bacteria)
-animals: genetically induce cancer or transplant human cancers into immunocompromised animals
-humans (organoids, genetics)
functional analysis of potentially cancerous mutations
is it necessary?
-remove a part and see if processes are turned off
is it sufficient?
-add one thing and see if process is turned on
necessity tests-how to remove a gene or protein?
-gene knockouts
-interference with RNA (knockdowns)
-interference with protein (function blocking antibody, dominant-interference
sufficiency tests-how to add a gene or protein?
-gene: deliver gene construct that results in gene expression
-RNA: inject X into mRNA
-protein: inject X protein
reverse transcriptase PCR (rtPCR)
-isolate cells, then mRNA
-reverse transcribe mRNA to cDNA
-use primers to amplify specific regions
-measure output thru gel, fluorescence, etc
in situ hybridization
-fix whole tissue
-use a probe that is the DNA sequence reverse complement of gene being tested
-tells spatial where the gene is located
RNAseq
-isolate mRNA
-PCR to cDNA and add adapters sequence
-map result back to the genome
western blot
-separates protein by size
-uses a fluorescent antibody to target specific protein
flow cytometry
cells of interest are labeled with antibodies and sorted using a laser