Molecular Basis of Health and Disease Flashcards
what are the different systems within the body
nervous
respiratory
circulatory
digestive
what does the nervous system do
allow us to receive and respond to our environment
what does the respiratory system do
breathe and take up oxygen and expel carbon dioxide
what does the circulatory system do
deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body
what does the digestive system do
extract energy and nutrients from food
what are cells
functional units of life
describe the structure of cells
each cell is a discrete package of material surrounded by plasma membrane
what does the plasma membrane function as on the cells
provides a clear boundary between the outside of the cell and the inside of the cell and allows the cells to regulate and control the substances from entering and leaving cells
is the cytoplasm thick
no it is watery
what are the organelles within the cytoplasm described as functioning for
they are all the machinery and equipment necessary to perform all the physiological processes required to sustain life
what are some single celled organisms
protozoa and bacteria
why do cells communicate
so they can respond to their environment
how is cell communication achieved
through a network of signalling pathways essential for coordinated physiological responses
are all the signals sent and received by cells in their existences essential for healthy development of tissues and organ systems
yes
what can disruption in cell communication pathways lead to
disruption of normal physiological processes leading to pathology
what do the origins of disease emerge at the level of
cell communication pathways
what are the three key concepts in molecular basis of health and disease
- cell communication pathways regulate all aspects of biological function across all physiological levels
- disrupted cell communication pathways often manifest as disease
- drugs target disrupt cell communication pathways for therapeutic benefit
what are the levels to basis of health and disease
molecular
microscopic
macroscopic
environmental
what is included in the molecular level of basis of health and disease
cell signalling, gene expression, protein expression
what can changes in gene expression modify
cell behaviour
what does the central dogma explain
essentially the process of dna becoming proteins through transcription and translation
what acts as the structural and functional machinery of our cell
proteins
what does the range of proteins in the cell determine
cell structure and function; what it is and what it can do, as well as which signal the cell can respond to in the future.
what is effective cell communication essential for
maintaining the normal structure and function, and regulate all biological activity and maintain homeostasis at the level of our tissues organs and organ systems
what do cell communication pathways govern
our movements, thoughts and behaviours
what is involved at the microscopic level
cell structure and function
what is involved at the macroscopic level
tissues, organs, organ systems and their function
what is involved at the environmental level
chronic infection, dysbiosis, diet, physical inactivity, obesity, isolation, chronic stress, disturbed sleep and xenobiotics
what is the purpose of the environmental level of the basis of health and disease
look at how the environment can interact with our genes to modify our risk of disease
what are some factors that can disrupt our homeostatis mechanisms and alter the signals our cells receive. our cells respond to those signals by modifying their pattern of gene expression
- chronic infection
- dysbiosis
- diet
- physical inactivity
- obesity
- isolation
- chronic stress
- disturbed sleep
- xenobiotics
what is an example of an environment factor and how it can affect the basis of health and disease
a diet high in carbohydrates will disrupt our glucose metabolic pathways in our cells and predispose us to type two diabetes
what is ateology
the cause of pathogenesis
what does the molecular basis of disease determine
the molecular factors that underly the causes and progression of diseases
what are some general health issues that are heavily related to the oral cavity
chronic kidney disease
diabetes
cardiovascular diseases
autoimmune diseases
how do our cells communicate
via signalling pathways
what do signalling pathways enable cells to do
detect and respond to changes in the environment and allow cells to coordinate their responses
what are ligands
chemical signals that deliver information about the activites of one cell and communicate them to another
what are the four categories of cell signalling
paracrine
autocrine
endocrine
close contact
what is paracrine signalling
when a cell targets a nearby cell of a different type
what is endocrine signalling
when a cell targets a distant cell through the bloodstream
what is autocrine signalling
where a cell targets itself or a cell of the same type locally
what is an example of contact dependent signalling
signalling across gap junctions
what is the main difference between all the ways cells can communicate with each other
the distance the ligand must travel to reach the target cell
which cell signalling types occur locally
paracrine and autocrine
which form of signalling is used if the ligand remains bound to the surface of the cell rather than being secreted
this would be contact dependent signalling as the two cell surface receptors would have to interact with each other
what is present on or within cells that recognise and bind ligands
protein receptors
what are the ligands in endocrine signalling
hormones
how can most signal molecules be described in relation to their affinity for the protein target receptors
most are large and hydrophilicPOLAR and therefore bind to the cell surface receptors rather than entering the cell
which ligands can bind to intracellular receptors
small hydrophobic ligands
what are receptors
proteins that bind to signalling molecules to initiate the signalling cascade
how many receptors are found in each individual cell
hundreds
why can hydrophilic ligands not enter the cell
the plasma membrane physically prevents them from entering. the membrane is based on a framework of fat based molecules called phospholipids with hydrophilic heads facing outward and hydrophobic tails on the inside. the hydrophobic tails prevent the hydrophilic substances from entering and escaping the cell
why are cell surface receptors required - why cant they all be intracellular
most ligands are hydrophilic and cannot enter the cell, so these can bind to the receptors and have their signal transmitted to the inside of the cell by the receptor
what happens in the absence of a ligand
no response, cell signalling pathway is switched off
what happens when a ligand binds to its receptor
it alters the shape or activity of the receptor which triggers a change on the inside of the cell
how do cell surface receptors lie on the plasma membrane
they span the membrane, with an extracellular part and an intracellular part
what happens when a ligand binds to its extracellular part of the receptor
conformational change in the activity and shape of the intracellular component of the receptor
how do receptors transmit their signal from the ligand once it has bound
change its conformation on the intracellular surface to transmit the signal
what feature of the receptor allows it to transmit the signal into the cell
its structure
what happens once there is a conformational change on the inner portion of the receptor
a series of biochemical events within the cell is triggered
what are effector proteins
the final receiver of the message, and they are proteins that will initiate or effect some sort of response by the cell
what is the final stage of cell communication
cell response - the effector proteins might be proteins that are in the cytoplasm of the cell, meaning the cell would be to tell particular enzymes to switch on or off, or the effector protiens could be in the nucleus where it may bring about changes in gene expression
what does the nature of cell response to signalling depend on
interpretation of the message that is delivered by the ligand
what are the three distinct stages of cell signalling pathways
receptor ligation
signal transduction
cell response
how can ligand receptor interactions be described
highly specific
what are the three classes of receptors
g protein coupled receptors
enzyme linked receptors
ion channel receptors
what are intracellular receptors
receptors present within the cell
which receptors will insulin bind to
only insulin receptors
which receptors will acetylcholine bind to
acetylcholine receptors which are present on the surface of skeletal and cardiac muscle cell, which both have different responses
what are the responses of the acetylcholine receptors on the cardiac muscle cells once acetylcholine has bound
reduce the force and rate of contraction
what are the responses of the receptors for acetylcholine on skeletal muscle cells
intitiations of the sliding filament contraction
what is an example of receptors that can bind to a few different ligands
adrenergic receptors which can bind to both adrenaline and noradrenaline, although noradrenaline only binds to beta adrenergic receptors
how do g protein receptors receive their message
via the action of g proteins
how do enzyme coupled receptors receive their message
enzymatic activity
how do ion channel receptors receive their message
ion channel opening
how are the different cell surface receptors named
according to the mechanisms by which they convert the signal into an intracellular signal
what is an example of signalling molecules that can enter the cell and bind to intracellular receptors
steroid hormones
describe g protein coupled receptors
the largest and most diverse group of membrane receptors that interact with g proteins.
the active g proteins activate cell membrane proteins
how many different g protein coupled receptors are there
1000