HSS 2305 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Robert Menzies, Protein, Gene
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
HSS 2305
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
HSS2305B Dr. Keir Menzies
Molecular Mechanisms of Disease
Introduction to Molecular Biology 11.09.18
Molecular Biology
• explores cells, their characteristics, parts, and chemical processes (how and why it happens)
• ho oleules otrol a ell’s atiities ad groth
• pathways that provide the cells with energy, facilitate processing essages fro outside the
cell itself, generate new proteins, and replicate the cellular DNA genome
• understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell
• field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochem
• understand how a healthy cell functions and how disease begins to manifest in a cell at the
molecular level
• yield powerful techniques and tools which have revolutionized diagnostics and treatment
strategies
o drugs do’t hae oe speifi target, thus oe drug a e effetie for ay thigs
o gene therapy – alter gene instead of administering drugs
• understand the molecular machinery that runs a cell, understand basic cell biology
Cellular Biology Review
Cells – smallest unit of life
• whole cells can be removed from an organism and grown in a lab
• Henrietta Lacks – first human immortal cell line aka HeLa cell line
o Never gave perissio to use her ells; perso ho disoered her ell’s iortality
made a lot of money off her cells
o Cells used as a control in experiments, compare new discoveries with HeLa cells
• Highly complex and organized
o Cellular activities highly controlled and remarkably precise
▪ i.e < 1 mistake/10 million nucleotides incorporated
o high degree of conservation in cellular organization and function across species
o molecular biology studies the complexities of cellular machinery in action
• possess a genetic program and the means to use it (DNA and RNA)
o cells built according to a collection of genes
o genes are the blueprint for cellular structure, directions for running of cellular activities,
program for cellular replication
o allow for mutation variation
• can reproduce through mitosis (2 diploid cells) or meiosis (4 haploid cells; sex cells)
• acquire and utilize energy – every biological process needs energy
o most energy goes to breaking down and rebuilding macromolecules and organelles
▪ turnover useless/expired organelles and reuse parts of it after degradation
• carry out a variety of chemical reactions (most cell fns)
find more resources at oneclass.com
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2
o all chemical reactions in a cell requires enzymes – molecules that greatly increase the
rate of chemical reactions
o cellular metabolism = sum of chemical reactions (input + output)
• cells engage in mechanical activity 0 result of dynamic mechanical changes in a cell
o motor proteins transport materials intracellular, assemble and disassemble structures,
cellular motility
• respond to stimuli
o receptors on cell surface respond to substances in their environ in a very specific way
▪ hormones, growth factors, extracellular material
o receptors provide pathways through which external stimuli can evoke specific responses
in target cells
▪ after metabolic activities, cellular movement, cell death
• capable of self-regulation – normal cells know when it has an issue and needs to apoptosis
o cells are robust – protected from dangerous fluctuations in composition and behaviour
o importance of this concept becomes apparent in disease – regulatory mechs fail
• cellular activities as a sequential series of events or chain reaction
Two Types of Living Cells
1) Prokaryotes - bacteria
2) Eukaryotes – protists, fungi, plants, animals
• Nucleus
• Rough ER; smooth ER
• Golgi complex
• Mitochondria
• Lysosomes
• Cytoskeleton
• Plasma membrane
• Unicellular eukaryotes – complex single-celled organisms
• Multicellular eukaryotes – different cell types for diff functions
Cell Specialization – differentiation = less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type
• Occurs during embryonic development
o Satellite cells are not differentiated and have many pathways to be specialized into a
specific kind of cell
• Despite differentiation, cells have many features in common
Molecular Biology to Harness Differentiation
• Cell Replacement therapy – adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, inducible pluripotent stem
cells
Basic Properties of Cells – Commonly measured in units of micrometers and nanometers
• Cell size is limited by volume of cytoplasm that can be supported by genes in the nucleus of by
exchange of nutrients, distance over which substances can efficiently travel through the
cytoplasm via diffusion (time)
Viruses – pathogens; outside cell = virion
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
