QUESTION 1:
Using your knowledge of lung cancer signalling and precision medicine please answer in your own words the following questions in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
Part A. Describe how cigarette smoke influences the type and number of mutations present in lung tumours from NSCLC patients. (3 marks)
Part B. Describe how the PD-L1 ligand is altered in certain lung tumours and how it can affect adaptive immunity (4 marks).
Part C. Discuss which NSCLC patients are suitable for immunotherapy reflecting on the clinical trial data. (3 marks)
QUESTION 2:
Using your knowledge of recording electrical activity and membrane potential please answer in your own words the following questions in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
Part A. Describe the role of voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels in an action potential. (5 marks)
Part B. Explain how voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels respond to depolarization. (5 marks)
QUESTION 3:
Using your knowledge of cell signalling pathways and experimental techniques please analyse the data shown and answer in your own words the questions in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
The datasets below were collected from experiments with a mystery ion channel receptor (ICR).
Interpret the data provided below to determine which of the following: ICRX, ICRY or ICRZ is the most likely identity of the ion channel receptor.
Part A. Name the mystery ion channel receptor ICRX, ICRY or ICRZ. (1 mark)
Part B. Explain the how key data findings support your answer. (5 marks)
Part C. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the experimental techniques used in Experiment 2 and Experiment 3. (4 marks)Mystery ion channel receptor response data
Experiment 1 – Using intracellular recording, isolated sensory neurons expressing the mystery ICR were incubated in the specified temperatures and the membrane potential recorded.
Experiment 3 – Transgenic mice have a deletion of the mystery ICR and wild type mice have a functional mystery ICR. Mice are exposed to chemical substances placed in food and their responses recorded.
QUESTION 4:
Using your knowledge of intracellular receptors please answer in your own words the following question in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
Part A. Name the toll-like-receptor (TLR) receptor that predominantly recognises viral dsRNA (1 mark) and the localisation of the TLR (1 mark).
Part B. Describe in detail the key TLR DOMAINS involved in signalling (4 marks), the name of the ADAPTOR and the DOMAIN of the adaptor required for signalling (2 marks) and the signalling output (2 marks).
QUESTION 5:
Using your knowledge of cell death signalling mechanisms please answer in your own words the following questions in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
Part A. Discuss the steps for intrinsic apoptosis that follow mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilisation (MOMP) which lead to activation of executioner caspases. (5 marks)
Part B. Describe the enzyme activated by executioner caspases that is involved in chopping up DNA during chromatin fragmentation. (1 mark)
Part C. Describe two (2) different safeguard mechanisms that cells use to prevent MOMP associated with intrinsic apoptosis (4 marks).
QUESTION 6:
Using your knowledge of synaptic plasticity please answer in your own words the questions below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts. You can upload these file types: jpeg, pdf, Word files.
Design an experiment to test whether microglia are involved in synaptic plasticity.
Part A. Explain one way you would directly test microglia’s involvement. (2 marks)
Part B. Name the end points you would examine. (2 marks)
Part C. Describe two mechanisms you would expect to see involved if synaptic plasticity is enhanced. (4 marks)
Part D. Draw a graph and provide a description of it showing hypothetical data illustrating your anticipated findings. (2 marks)
QUESTION 7:
Using your knowledge of innate immunity and inflammation please answer in your own words the following questions in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
Part A. Discuss why COPD patients are more vulnerable to developing a serious respiratory infection. (3 marks)
Part B. Discuss how a bacterial infection in COPD can trigger signalling that initiates neutrophil migration into the lungs. (4 marks)
Part C. Discuss an experimental strategy to block excessive neutrophil inflammation in COPD patients. (3 marks)
QUESTION 8:
Using your knowledge of intracellular receptors please answer in your own words the following questions in the text box below. Be sure to clearly label the different parts.
Part A. Name THREE (3) protein-protein interactions that you could target to prevent the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome. For each interaction name the pair of proteins, the relevant domain/s and the immediate step downstream that is prevented. (9 marks).
Part B. What form of cell death would these disruptions prevent? (1 mark)