week 9 Flashcards
Why is correct regulation of cell division important?
Development - Organs and body parts need to be the correct size/shape, not over/under developed.
Injury - Cells need to divide following injury but stop when damage repaired
Adaptive responses
What is adaptive responses regulation important in cell division?
Cells in bone marrow responds to low O2 - produce more RBC - need to stop when O2 returns to normal
Lymphocytes - division triggered in response to antigen - needs to be controlled
What are the consequences of deregulated cell division?
If regulation of cell division breaks down in any of the aforementioned processes it results in cancer/tumor formation
What two main ways cell division is regulated?
External signals - Diffusable chemical signals produced by other cells which ‘tell the cell how to behave’, eg mitogens (growth factors)
Internal signals - chemical signals produced internally by the cell in order to regulate its own division - eg cyclin dependent kinases
External signals regulating cell cycle processing?
Can promote or inhibit cell division,
and are known as Mitogens (growth factors) or anti-mitogens
What happens in the absence of mitogens in external signals that regulate cell cycle?
S phase cyclins (i.e. those cyclins which drive the cell into S phase) are not made
Without sustained mitogen stimulation cells will not progress through the G1 checkpoint
The cells enter G0 instead – quiet phase or quiescence
How do mitogens promote cell growth?
Mitogen binds to specific receptor on plasma membrane - activates - a relay in signal transduction pathway within the cytoplasm - activation of a cellular response as a result
Give an example of an external growth factor?
Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)
- Platelets are specialised cells present in blood
- Platelets have important roles in blood clotting and wound healing
- Release PDGF in response to injury
- PDGF binds to receptors on surface of skin cells and causes them to start dividing
What are internal signals that regulate cell cycle?
Stimulated by the presence of extracellular factors such as mitogens
M+G2
M+G1 or S
G1+S
G1+G2
How were internal signals of cell division first identified?
First identified by fusing cells from different stages of the cell cycle, caused the non-mitotic cell to become mitotic due to a growth factor in the cell
Why do cells need internal signals to control division?
Uncontrolled cell division is a hallmark of cancer. So, checkpoints enable cells to stop dividing if the correct signals are not present.
What do checkpoints allow for in cell division (internal signals)?
Checkpoints allow cells to review current circumstances and prevent untimely exit from each cell cycle phase.
If cell proceeds from one phase of the cycle to the next inappropriately, this can cause genetic instability.
Genetic instability can cause cancer
What are the three major checkpoints in cell division?
G1,
G2,
Metaphase (spindle assembly checkpoint)
What does G1 checkpoint ensure?
Commits cell to DNA replication and cell division
Checks:
Is cell suitable size?
Has it received appropriate external signals?
If no, cell enters non-dividing G0 phase,
If yes, Cell proceeds to S phase
What does G2 checkpoint ensure?
Cell makes decision whether or not to enter mitosis
Checks:
Is cell a suitable size?
Is DNA replicated?
Is environment favourable?
NO – cell does not proceed
YES – cell proceeds to M phase
What does metaphase checkpoint ensure?
Occurs in metaphase
Checks:
Are all the chromosomes attached to spindles?
NO – cell does not proceed
YES – cell enters anaphase of mitosis
What are the two internal molecular signals that regulate G1 and G2 checkpoints?
Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) and Cyclins
Who discovered Cyclins?
Sir Tim Hunt (1982)
What did Sir Tim Hunt observe (internal signals of cell cycle)?
Observed that, following fertilisation, cells in sea urchin early embryos divided SYNCHRONOUSLY
Whole population of cells at same stage of cell cycle as opposed to a mixed population at different stages
What did Sir Tim Hunt find (internal signals of cell cycle)?
Found a group of proteins levels of which increased and decreased (cycled) between INTERPHASE and MITOTIC PHASE - CYCLINS
What is the basic mechanism of action of Cdk and cyclin proteins?
Combination of the two proteins known as a ‘promoting factor’ - control progression of the cell into the next phase of the cell cycle
G1 checkpoint – S phase promoting factor (SPF)
G2 checkpoint – M phase promoting factor (MPF) / Maturation promoting factor
How does the G1 checkpoint move to the next phase?
Cyclin E and Cdk 2 phosphorylates proteins required for S-phase entry, drives the cell into S phase.
What regulates G1 and G2 checkpoint?
G1 = SPF
G2 = MPF
How does cyclin enable cells to pass to the next phase of cell division after checkpoints?
Expression levels of Cdk’s remain constant throughout the cell cycle but their activity is enhanced by changes in cyclin levels
therefore, it is an increase in cyclin expression which enables cells to pass through cell cycle checkpoints
What is MPF?
mitosis-promoting factor (cyclinB + Cdk1)
MPF and regulation of the cell cycle?
MPF = maturation / (mitosis) / M phase promoting factor - controls G2 checkpoint and initiation of mitosis
After mitosis the degradation of cyclin increases (ubiquitination and proteosomal degradation) - MPF activity decreases again
Steps to activation of MPF in G2 phase?
Cyclin B accumulates,
Cyclin B and Cdk1 bind to form MPF
MPF triggers mitosis
MPF activates cycling-degrading enzyme
Enzyme degrades cyclin
Loss of cyclin inactivates enzymes
Cdk1 is recycles
Peaks of MPF activity correlate with peaks of cyclin levels - threshold reached - MPF activated. How?
- cyclin expression increases sharply at various stages of the cell cycle
- cyclin B particularly during G2
- decrease sharply during M
-maximum in early M
When are CDKs present within the cell cycle?
At constant levels throughout the cell cycle
What des periodic cycling expression activate?
CDKs at defined points in the cell cycle
How does cyclin work?
Cyclin binds to CDK and forms the active MPF complex which acts directly by causing the nuclear envelope to fragment, and indirectly by stimulating other kinases
Cyclin even initiates the process which results in its own destruction - thus switching itself off.
What is the M checkpoint also known as?
Spindle assembly checkpoint
What is the internal regulator for the M checkpoint?
a complex of proteins called the ANAPHASE PROMOTING COMPLEX (APC)
How is anaphase initiated after M checkpoint?
Unattached kinetochores – inhibitory pathway active, –> Cohesin –> inactive APC.
However, ‘Wait’ Signal stops when all kinetochores attached. –> Cohesin ubiquitination and breakdown –> APC activates anaphase.
Can cell cycle checkpoints be regulated by phosphorylation?
Yes
What is the current trend for cancer?
1 in 2 people will develop cancer in their lifetime
Its becoming more common in the UK, however mortality rate is decreasing
Cancer has recently over taken what as the leading cause of death in the UK? Why?
Heart disease
- Better treatment for heart disease; lower mortality
- A disease of the aging population
Which is the most common cancer?
Lung cancer
What is the second biggest killer in women versus men?
Men = prostate cancer
Women = Breast cancer
Cancer definition
a serious disease that is caused when cells in the body grow in a way that is uncontrolled and not normal, killing normal cells and often causing death
What are the cancer classifications?
Carcinoma
Sarcoma
Myeloma
Lymphoma
Leukemia
Mixed classifications
What is carcinoma?
cancers arising from epithelial cells (surface cells - e.g. lining of gut, skin, cells lining airways of the lungs)
constitute 80-90% of all cancers as these cells are exposed to the environment (carcinogens)
What is sarcoma?
cancers of connective and supportive tissues e.g. bone cancer, muscle – rare 1%
What is myeloma?
cancers of the plasma cells of the bone marrow - antibody producing cells - secondary infections (pneumonia and pyelonephritis (urinary tract infection)
What is lymphoma?
solid tumours of the lymphatic system - lymph glands, lymph nodes or in organs - tonsils, spleen, thymus – formed from maturing WBCs
What is Leukemia?
‘blood’ cancers - more specifically precursor blood cells in bone marrow – circulating white or red blood cells. Excess of immature cells - don’t function - anaemia - suppressed immunity
What is mixed classifications of cancer?
cancers originating in germ cells and stem cells – therefore encompasses a range of cancers (as they have the capacity to form different types of cells during differentiation) – testicular, ovarian, even placental
e.g. teratocarcinoma
How do the growth characteristics of a cancerous cell differ from those of a normal cell?
Normal cells:
1. Anchorage dependent growth - no attachment no growth
2. Density dependent growth - stop growing when confluent - signals from other cells - will re-grow to fill gaps but then stop again
Cancerous cells:
1. No anchorage dependence - seldom anchor to base of flasks but grow anyway - generally have rounded appearance
2. No density dependence - growth not controlled by other cells - instead of a monolayer they just continue growing on top of each other
3. Can form ‘foci’
What is ‘foci’?
Where cancer cells are cultured at high density they grow in multilayered, dense clumps of cells which is known as ‘foci’
Cell immortality - cancerous versus healthy?
Normal cells have a limited life expectancy eg 50-60 doublings, however cancerous cells have an indefinite number of population doublings.
Why are cancerous cells immortal but healthy cells are not?
Normal cell life expectancy is related to shortening of chromosomal telomeres. Cancerous cells are able to maintain telomere length by the protein telomerase
Other factors contributing to abnormal proliferation of cancer cells?
Reduced reliance on growth factors produced by other cells
Increased production of growth factors. (Cancerous cells may overproduce growth factors in order to promote growth - increased expression/shedding of growth factors)
Changes in cell membrane structure
Example of how reduced reliance on growth factors produced by other cells could cause cancer?
External growth factors required for progression through G1 cell cycle checkpoint
e.g. 3T3 fibroblasts - normal cells only grow in culture media containing certain growth factors. Transform these cells (turn them into cancerous cells) by viral infection (e.g. SV40, Rous sarcoma virus) - grow happily on a basal media lacking the same growth factors
How can changes in cell membrane structure and function cause cancer?
Cell surface / plasma membrane is a strong determinant of cellular ‘social’ behaviour; e.g. communication, cell movement, adherence, access to nutrients, recognition by the immune system
- glycolipids, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, mucins
What are the basic stages of cancer disease progression?
Initiation
Clonal expansion
Primary tumour
Secondary mutations
Malignancy
Invasion
Metastasis
Step 1 of cancer disease progression?
Initiation
Single cell undergoes a single mutation - confers a growth advantage which causes it to lose some of its growth control