201 Flashcards
(427 cards)
birth of cell biology
1950s, ability to grow cells from many organs for a limited time however cancer cell lines grew immortally within the lab.
birth of cell bio (TEM)
development of new imaging techniques (TEM) allowed visualisation of cell structures, combined with staining techniques and now very advanced microscopy is now used.
Cell fractionation (birth of cell bio)
separates parts of the cell by size/density, rough er breaks down into smaller microsomes. The higher the speed the smaller the parts of the cell come out.
what could microsomes help study
the secretory pathway of a cell
The two main protein sorting pathways in eukaryotes
cytosolic proteins are sorted in the cytosol and membrane, luminal and secreted proteins are translated on the ribosomes of the rough ER
Where does translation start
on free ribosomes in the cytosol
where can proteins be targetted?
to the nucleus, to the mitochondria, a large amount of proteins are secreted out of the cell or trafficked to other organelles of the cell.
post translational translocation
chloroplasts translated in the cytosol and contains targeting sequence afterwards.
Co translational translocation
Membrane, luminal and secreted proteins are translated on the ribosomes of the rough ER:
How is a secretory protein targeted to the rough ER where it is needed to be translated?
What could be used to track secretory proteins and how they move throughout the cell? (OLD METHOD)
pulse-chase labelling system
pulse chase labelling system
label a subset of new proteins - pulse-chase: add a pulse of radiolabelled aa into cell culture media and chase it with normal aa. Activity can be followed using microscopic techniques (autoradiography).
Finding after pulse-chase labelling secretory proteins (observing trafficking)
new proteins very quickly associated (made) with the membrane of the ER -> ER important for secretion.
process of the pulse chase labelling system
- choose cell type that secretes proteins
- add a pulse of radiolabelled aa into cell culture media and chase it with normal aa
- follow where the radioactivity goes using microscopic techniques (autoradiography)
- isolate microsomes and treat with detergent and protease
What effect did the detergent have on the microsomes in the pulse chase labelling system
break down the fatty membrane of the microsome
what effect did protease have on the microsomes in the pulse chase labelling system
if detergent was added it would destroy the protein as the microsome membrane had been broken. If the membrane was not broken down the protein was protected.
what was the finding after adding protease and detergent to the pulse chase labelling system (microsomes)
found that proteins were translocating inside the lumen of the ER
How are proteins targeted to different parts of the cell? (SIGNAL HYPOTHJESIS)
Hypothesised that the secreted proteins should contain a signal telling where to direct them within the cell (signal hypothesis).
How could u explore the signal hypothesis?
choose and culture a cell type that secretes proteins, fractionate some membranes of rough ER, create cell free system for in vitro translation. Purified an immunoglobulin mRNA and translated it in vitro. Disrupted the membrane at different time points and examined the size of proteins.
The readout experiment
Investigating signal hypothesis:
- in vitro translation of IgG (immunoglobulin) mRNA
-disrupt microsomes with detergent
- translation finishes: Readout
- two sized polypeptide chains observed from one mRNA
Results of the readout experiment and the gel electrophoresis
two sized polypeptide chains observed from one mRNA, one longer precursor protein (if the microsomes were disrupted) which contained the signalling sequence and one mature sized shorter protein found in microsomes
what is the highly conserved signal sequence
N terminus start, positive charged amino acid then 6-12 hydrophobic amino acids.
experimental evidence for signal hypothesis
1) direct relationship between larger precursor protein and smaller mature protein
2) mature secretory protein was only produced if microsomes were present
3) mature secretory protein were protected from digestion in microsomes
4. conserved sequence sequenced.
How does the protein get through the ER (to the lumen)
through the sec 61 translocon
- conserved pathway/protein from yeast to humans