Psychological and Movement Disorders Flashcards
In protein mis-folding disorders such as Parkinson’s disease Alzheimer’s disease and prion diseases the fast and efficient folding of newly synthesised proteins is catalysed by which class of enzyme?
Cyclophilins
Chaperonins
Protein disulphide isomerases
Peptidyl-dipeptidases
Peptidyl prolyl cis-trans isomerases
Chaperonins
People with a rare disorder called von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome lack a tumour suppressor protein (pVHL) that under normal oxygen tension causes ubiquitination of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). Lack of pVHL triggers the continual production of VEGF resulting in haemangioblastomas, tumours that contain dense masses of blood vessels.
What is the consequence of the action of pVHL?
decreased transcription of the HIFalpha subunit
increased dimerisation of the HIFalpha & HIFbeta subunits
proteolytic degradation of the HIFalpha subunit
triggering of apoptotic cell death
triggering of a phosphorylation cascade
proteolytic degradation of the HIFalpha subunit
The age of onset of Huntington’s disease falls as a result of the increasing numbers of trinucleotide repeats in the Huntington gene. What is the process called?
anticipation
avidity
inflation
penetrance
prescience
anticipation
It is now known that epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in regulating gene transcription. In the past few decades research interest in chemical modification of DNA as a means of suppressing transcription and switching off certain genes has risen exponentially. Which chemical group can be added to the DNA to achieve this?
aldehyde group
carboxyl group
hydroxyl group
methyl group
phosphate group
methyl group
The pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease remains unclear. A role for apolipoprotein E (ApoE) has been implicated and deletion of 16 base pairs from exon 3 of the gene encoding at ApoErepresents a reliable mouse model of the disease. Which used in this disorder?
balance
retrieval of new information
retrieval of old information
spatial awareness
storage of new information
storage of new information
You propose to develop an animal model that reduces the pathology of Parkinson’s disease. Key to this will be ensuring the concentration of which neurotransmitter is reduced?
GABA
dopamine
noradreanline
glycine
glutamate
dopamine
Explanation: loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia.
Working as an NHS clinical scientist you are asked to evaluate the brain is taken from a Parkinson’s disease sufferer. In which region would you expect to see evidence of neuronal degeneration?
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Raphe nuclei
Substantia nigra
Globus Pallidus
Substantia nigra
Whilst discussing the limitations of the available drugs for the treatment of depression your facilitatator recounts a story. In 1980 she and her parents were having dinner with her uncle. He suffered from long-term depression but had been feeling much better since he started to take a new type of drug. At the end of the meal as they’re enjoying write cheese the uncle suffered a massive stroke. Subsequent investigation reveals he was the victim of the “cheese reaction”. Side-effects which type of drug?
St John’s Wort
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
Tricyclic antidpressants
Selective serotonon reuptake inhibitors SSRI’s
Lithium
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
A 43-year-old man medication for schizophrenia. Over time he develops hypogonadism and suffers from erectile dysfunction. Serum prolactin concentration that is twice the normal concentration. The symptoms have arisen from the blockade on which system in the CNS
mesocortical pathway
meslimbic pathway
corticospinal tract
hypothalamo-pituitary axis
tuberinfundibular way
tuberinfundibular way
In order to boost of a neurotransmitter drinks can be designed that either reduce its catabolism or reduce its uptake from the synapse. One such example is venlafaxine which prevents re-uptake of noradrenaline and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in the central nervous system. What would be the therapeutic effect of this drug?
decrease wakefulness
enhance mood
improves cognitive function
prevent neurodegeneration
reduce tremor
enhance mood
A 64-year-old man is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. His doctor provides L-DOPA a in order to restore dopamine concentrations in the brain. What drug can become administered to reduce side-effects of this drug?
catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor
DOPA decarboxylase inhibitor
Dopamine dehydroxylase inhibitor
monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor
tyrosine decraboxylase inhibitor
DOPA decarboxylase inhibitor
