Neurobiology Flashcards
What are the 4 important stages of Neuronal Development?
- Proliferation and migration
- Axon and dendrite outgrowth
- Target contact and synapse formation
- Cell death and synapse elimination
What are the two processes that drive much of development?
- Gene Regulation
- Signal Transduction
- A brief overview of the nervous system
What does the nervous system do?
- Detects changes in the internal and external environment
- Transmits this information to other cells for processing and storage
- Instructs other cells how to respond to the changes
How is the nervous system organized?
- Central nervous system
- Peripheral nervous system
What are the two principal kinds of cells in the nervous system?
- Neurons
- Glia
What are the basic information carrying components of the nervous system?
Neurons
Multiple neurons come together to form….
Neural circuits
Site of inter-cellular biochemical communication
Synapse
- A brief overview of the signal transduction and gene regulation
Why is signal transduction important?
It is key to all of development
How does a simple intracellular pathway work?
- A signal molecule (ligand) binds to a (receptor) protein embedded in the plasma membrane of the cell
- The embedded protein activates an intracellular signaling pathway
- Intracellular signaling proteins undergo a conformational change
- One of these signaling proteins interacts with a target protein which can then lead to a change in the behavior of the cell
What are the 3 classes of ligand-activated cell surface receptors?
- Ion-channel-linked receptors
- Enzyme-linked receptors
- G-protein-linked receptors
What are the 4 general types of intercellular signaling
- Contact-dependent
- Paracrine
- Synaptic
- Endocrine
- Experimental Strategies: How do we study the development of the nervous system
- Whole animals
- Cultured tissues from animals
- Cultured cells from animals
What is an antibody?
A portion made up of 4 subunits held together by disulfide bonds
