SCHOOL OF ANATOMY & HUMAN BIOLOGY
CELL AND TISSUE ORGANISATION 313 (910.313)
This paper contains:
5 pages
19 questions
You are required to answer TWELVE of the questions.
SEVEN from Section A, THREE from Section B and TWO from Section C.
Please use a separate answer book for Sections A, B and C
Note: All questions in Sections A and B are worth 8 marks, but questions in Part C are worth 10 marks
Time allowed: 3 hours
Reading time: 10 minutes
PLEASE NOTE
Examination candidates may only bring authorised materials into the examination room. If a supervisor finds, during the examination, that you have unauthorised material, in whatever form, in the vicinity of your desk or on your person, whether in the examination room or the toilets or en route to/from the toilets, the matter will be reported to the head of school and disciplinary action will normally be taken against you. This action may result in your being deprived of any credit for this examination or even, in some cases, for the whole unit. This will apply regardless of whether the material has been used at the time it is found.
Therefore, any candidate who has brought any unauthorised material whatsoever into the examination room should declare it to the supervisor immediately. Candidates who are uncertain whether any material is authorised should ask the supervisor for clarification.
SECTION A
Section A contains SEVEN questions.
You are required to answer ALL QUESTIONS in this section
Each question is worth 8 marks.
A1. (8 marks)
(a) Comment on the 2 key properties of stem cells? (2 marks)
(b) Describe at least one adult and one embryonic source of stem cells. (2 marks)
( c) What are 2 potential clinical uses for stem cells? (2 marks)
(d) What do you understand by the terms INTRINSIC and EXTRINSIC control of cell behaviour? (2 marks)
A2 (8 marks)
The internal architecture of the cell is highly organized.
(a) Name the 3 classes of cytoskeletal proteins and their basic structure. (3 marks).
(b) Outline briefly the functions for 3 cytoskeletal proteins and indicate what class each protein is in) (5 marks).
A3. (8 marks)
Interactions between extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules and cells are of considerable importance. The basal lamina (sometimes referred to as the basement membrane or external lamina) is a specialised form of ECM.
(a) Briefly describe the basal lamina (2 marks)
(b) Outline 2 functions of the basal lamina and in your answer name 3 cell types that have a basal lamina and 2 that do not. (5 marks).
(c) Name a major class of transmembrane cell surface proteins that interact with ECM molecules (1 mark).
A4 (8 marks)
(a) Define the central dogma of gene expression. (4 marks).
(b) Outline the basic steps involved in polymerase chain reaction (2 marks). Briefly describe why the concentration of MgCL2 is critical to the success of any PCR reaction (2 marks).
A5. (8 marks)
(a) Outline briefly what is:
an antigen, an epitope, an antibody, and what cells produce antibodies. (4 marks)
(b) Describe 2 kinds of controls that should always be included for the indirect method of immunostaining of a tissue or cell (using a fluorescent label to detect the bound antibody). (4 marks)
SEE OVER
SECTION A continued
A6. (8 marks) ANSWER ONLY ONE OF THESE 2 PARTS i.e EITHER A6.1 OR A6.2
A6.1 In tissue culture the environment in which cells are grown can significantly affect the growth characteristics.
(a) List 4 environmental conditions that can affect cell growth. (4 marks)
(b) Describe for two of these why they are critical to cell growth and viability. (4 marks).
OR
A6.2 You are asked to establish a primary skeletal muscle cell culture. There are a number of methodological considerations that you need to take into account before beginning.
Outline a simple method to establish a primary muscle culture with particular reference to these considerations. (8 marks)
A7. (8 marks)
Very briefly outline one technique that you could use to visually confirm gene expression on a tissue section or within a cell in tissue culture with respect to:
(a) gene transcription (2 marks) (a) gene translation (2 marks)
(c) Outline 3 different experimental approaches that you could design to prevent the function of a specific growth factor in vivo. (4 marks)
END OF SECTION SEE OVER
SECTION B
Section B contains SIX questions.
You are required to answer only THREE of these.
All questions in this section are worth 8 marks each.
Please use a new answer book for this section
B1. (8 marks)
(a) What is autoradiography? (2 marks)
(b) Outline two situations where autoradiography is used in biomedical research and briefly outline the associated technical aspects. (6 marks)
B2. (8 marks) ANSWER ONLY ONE OF THESE 2 PARTS i.e EITHER B2.1 OR B2.2
B2.1 What does collateral damage mean in the context of an immune response?
OR
B2.2 What happens during and after activation of T-lymphocytes?
B3. (8 marks)
What is apoptosis? How is it different from necrosis? (4 marks)
What is an apoptosome? (1 mark)
How do cancer cells escape cell death? (3 marks)
B4. (8 marks) ANSWER ONLY ONE OF THESE 2 PARTS i.e EITHER B4.1 OR B4.2
B4.1 List 2 populations of professional phagocytes and explain their function.
OR
B4.2 List 2 receptor mediated types of phagocytosis and the corresponding cytoskeletal structures contributing to formation of endosomes.
B5. (8 marks)
(a) Give four types of intellectual property (IP) (4 marks)
(b) What is "copyright" (2 marks)
(c ) At UWA what rights does a student have to their IP? (2 marks)
B6. (8 marks)
(a) What does segmentation of an image mean?
(b) When would you use Hoffman Microscopy?
(c) What is polarised microscopy used for?
(d) Why would you use an inverted microscope?
END OF SECTION SEE OVER
SECTION C
Section C contains SIX questions.
You are required to answer only TWO of these.
All questions in this section are worth 10 MARKS each.
Please use a new answer book for this section
C1. (10 marks)
Ethics need to be considered for biomedical research on humans and animals. Why?
What situations warrant ethical approval? What is the process for evaluating the ethical implications of a research project?
C2. (10 marks)
What are the advantages and disadvantagesof using the web to search for references?
C3. (10 marks)
What do you understand by the term tissue engineering? What are the main aspects to consider? Give some possible clinical applications of Tissue Engineering.
C4. (10 marks)
Describeas many methods as you can for reducing background noise and enhancing the contrast between the object you are observing in a microscope and the background
C5. (10 marks)
Ageing is an increasing issue in our society. Do you agree with the statement that “The process of ageing is inevitable and nothing can be done to slow it down”? Discuss with respect to the cellular/molecular basis of ageing and potential interventions to increase the quality of life and longevity.
C6. (10 marks)
With respect to the philosophy of Science, compare and contrast the theoretical way science is supposed to operate and the way it actually does.
END OF SECTION
END OF PAPER
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