Week 3 - Stem Cells and Differentiation

Question 1

What are stem cells

Answer 1

Undifferentiated cells that can divide to produce more stem cells or produce specialised cells

Question 2

Describe asymmetrical division

Answer 2

Stem cell divides to produce identical undifferentiated stem cell and also a cell that can differentiate as a unipotent ‘precursor cell’ with different genetic instructions

Question 3

What is stem cell potency

Answer 3

A stem cell’s ability to differentiate into other cell types e.g Totipotent = high potency, unipotent = low potency

Question 4

Pluripotency

Answer 4

Can give rise to any cell type found in the human body

Question 4

What is totipotency

Answer 4

Cells that can give rise to all cell types of the human body and to the embryonic membrane

Question 5

Where are pluripotent cells found

Answer 5

In the ICM of the human embryo

Question 6

Example of totipotent cell

Answer 6

Zygote and morula

Question 7

Multipotentcy and examples

Answer 7

Can give rise to tissue-specific cell types of the body e.g haematopoietic/mesenchymal stem cells (blood/connective tissue stem cells)

Question 8

What is an oocyte

Answer 8

Cell in ovary which can undergo meiotic division to form an ovum

Question 9

Briefly describe the process of induced pluripotent stem cell

Answer 9

When adult somatic cells are reprogrammed back to pluripotency

Question 10

Define somatic stem cells

Answer 10

Undifferentiated cells that produce cells other than those involved in reproduction and are used to replenish and regenerate dying/damaged cells

Question 11

Where are stem cells found

Answer 11

Skin

Intestine

Liver

Brain

Bone marrow

Question 12

Why are adult stem cells hard to isolate

Answer 12

Few in number

Difficult to culture

Question 13

What are cancer stem cells

Answer 13

Stem cells that are thought to cause cancerous tumours

Question 14

What is the problem with traditional chemotherapy

Answer 14

It kills cancerous cells but doesn’t target the route cause of the problem: cancer stem cells

Question 15

What is the most effective chemotherapy combination to kill cancer for good and why is this

Answer 15

Cancer stem cell targeted cancer therapy (kills the cancer stem cells) AND traditional chemotherapy (targets the cancerous cells) - important as well because cancer cells can convert back into cancer stem cells and start the process all over again

Question 16

What is the name of the recent therapy that was promising against cancer stem cells

Answer 16

CD47

Question 17

Which regulatory molecules are responsible for how regenerative medicines work and explain

Answer 17

Growth factors which stimulate cell and tissue function through influencing cell differentiation

Question 18

Influencing cell differentiation can lead to a change in what

Answer 18

Biochemical activity

Cellular growth

Regulation of rate of proliferation

Question 19

Outline how stem cell therapy works in leukemia for example (a

Answer 19

Blood stem cells collected from healthy donor with same blood type (if allogenic) or affected patient from bone marrow/blood (if autologous)

Patient with faulty blood cells has their own blood (haematopoetic stem cells) killed through chemotherapy/radiation

Healthy stem cells implanted into patient which go on to produce healthy blood cells

Question 19

Define regenerative medicine

Answer 19

the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased human cells or tissues to restore normal function

Question 20

Autologous transplant

Answer 20

Cells/tissue obtained from same patient

Question 21

Allogenic transplant

Answer 21

Cells/tissue obtained from a different patient

Question 22

List 6 potential therapeutic uses for stem cells

Answer 22

Stem cell transplant for conditions such as leukaemia

Eye corneal repair

Cartilage transplants

Making of new blood in vitro

Tissue repair

Drug screening

Vehicle for gene therapy

Question 23

Which type of stem cell is useful for stem cell transplant

Answer 23

Adult stem cells

Question 24

Are adult stem cells easy/hard to culture

Answer 24

HARD

Question 25

Which stem cell is associated with rejection problems during allogeneic transplantation

Answer 25

Embryonic stem cells

Question 26

Describe the 2 hypothesises for the production of cancer stem cells

Answer 26

Normal stem cell mutates to become a cancerous stem cell

Somatic cell mutates to gain cancer characteristics and stem. cell like characteristics