Module 1 - Altered Cellular and Tissue Biology Flashcards
Describe cellular adaptation
- This is when cells adapt to their environment to escape and protect themselves from injury
- An adapted cell is neither normal nor injured - condition lies between these 2 states
- It is reversible changes in size, number, phenotype, metabolic activity or functions of cells
Give examples of adaptive changes in cells
- Atrophy - decrease in cells size
- Hypertrophy - increase in cell size
- Hyperplasia - increase in cell number
- Metaplasia - reversible replacement of one mature cell type by another less mature cell type or a change in the phenotype
What is Dysplasia?
- This is deranged cellular growth, not a true adaptation
- It is atypical hyperplasia
Atrophy
Decrease or shrinkage in cellular size
Where is atrophy most common?
Skeletal muscle, heart, secondary sex organs, brain
True or False: Atrophy can be physiological or pathological.
True
True or False: Atrophy is only physiological.
False
What does an atrophic muscle cell contains less of?
ER, mitochondria and myofilaments.
What causes immediate reduction of O2 consumption and amino acid uptake in muscular atrophy
Nerve loss.
What are the mechanisms of atrophy?
- Decreased protein synthesis
- Increased protein catabolism
- Ribosome biogenesis may also play a role
What is the primary pathway of protein catabolism?
UPS - ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.
An increase in proteasome activity is characteristic of what changes?
Atrophic muscle changes
Deregulation of UPS leads to what?
Abnormal cell growth and is associated with cancer and other diseases.
What accompanies atrophy due to chronic malnutrition?
It is accompanied by self eating process called autophagy that creates autophagic vacuoles.
What are autophagic vacuoles?
- membrane bound vesicles within the cells
- it contains cellular debris and hydrolytic enzymes which function to breakdown substances to the simplest unit of fat, carbs, or protein.
What happens to the levels of hydrolytic enzymes during atrophy?
It rises rapidly
What do these autophagic vacuoles do?
This is where hydrolytic enzymes are isolated to prevent uncontrolled cellular destruction. This process protects uninjured organelles from injured organelles. Theyare eventually engulfed and destroyed by lysosomes.
Give an example of granules that can persist and resist breakdown.
Examples are granules that contains lipofuscin - yellow brown pigment - usually accumulates in liver cells, myocardial cells, and atrophic cells.
Give examples of Atrophy
- Physiological - occurs in early development e.g. thymus gland undergoes physiological atrophy during childhood.
- Pathological -
- decreases in workload, pressure, use, blood supply, nutrition, hormonal stimulation, and nervous system stimulation. e.g. individuals immobilized in bed for a prolonged period of time, aging causes brain cells to become atrophic, endocrine-dependent organs can shrink as hormonal stimulation decreases.
Hypertrophy
-Compensatory increase in the size of the cell in response to mechanical stimuli (also mechanical load or stress).
-Examples are from repetitive stretching, chronic pressure or volume overload.
-This can lead to increases in size of organ.
Which are the 2 organs most prone to hypertrophy/enlargement?
Heart and kidneys
What is involved in cardiac hypertrophy?
It involves changes in signaling and transcription factor pathways which leads to increased protein synthesis - this leads to LVH.
What remains intact with physical hypertrophy?
Myocardial structure and function despite increased workload of the heart.
Give examples of physical hypertrophy.
- Normal growth and development
- moderate endurance exercise training
- pregnancy
- early phases of increased pressure and volume loading on the adult human heart