BIOC19

Exam 1
1. Cancer can appear in:
a) Cell types undergoing a controlled rate of cell division like RBC stem cells
b) Cell types which are not normally dividing
c) Virtually any cell type in the body
d) Cell types undergoing a controlled rate of cell division like adult neurons
2. Contact inhibition
a) Involves the principle of self regulated cell division
b) Results in formation of a monoplayer in normal cells grown in tissue culture
c) Requires cell to cell recognition
d) Is important in developmental processes
3. Comparison of the biochemistry of a cancer cell and its originating cell types is difficult
because:
a) Glucose uptake differs in cancer vs normal cells
b) Dedifferentiate of the cancer cell hampers identification of the original cell type
c) One cell type is dividing and the other is not
d) It is difficult to distinguish primary vs secondary effects of some cancer inducing agents
4. Antigenic differences between normal and transformed cells
a) Are a more common occurrence than originally suspected
b) Have been suggested form data on immunosuppressive drugs
c) Can be used to combat cancer
d) Are unlikely because the body would detect them.
5. Chemical agents which induce cancers
a) May be present in the diet
b) May be present in unfiltered cigarette smoke
c) May cause other damage to target cells besides ‘inducing transformation’
d) Induce all cells in the target population to transform
6. Viruses can
a) Replicate in a host cell and cause it to burst and release viral particles
b) Insert into the host genome
c) Transform the host cell to the cancer state
d) Transform target cells more efficiently than carcinogens or radiation
7. Oncogenes
a) Are altered versions of normal genes
b) Play a role in uncontrolled cell division in cancer cells
c) Can be generated by chemicals
d) Are expressed in normal cellular development
8. Interleukin 2
a) Changes white blood cells to killer cells
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b) Can change T-lymphocytes in a tumor to tumor infiltrating lymphocytes

c) Has been used experimentally to combat cancer
d) Is a molecule operative in the bodies normal immune-defensive mechanism
9. Tumor necrosis factor
a) Can kill cancer cells grown in tissue culture
b) Can kill normal cells in the body
c) Can kill cancer cells in the body
d) Has been modified by recombinant DNA technology to kill only cancer cells
10. Tissue culture are ideal for studying cell differentiate because
a) The differentiation of a single defined cell population can be studied
b) Required inducing factors can be identified
c) Complicating factors form surrounding cells are not a problem
d) Loss of differentiated features is not a problem
11. Muscle cells grown in tissue culture are useful model system because
a) The process occurs in culture with no required inducing factors
b) The process is associated with a distinct series of morphological and molecular series of
events
c) The differentiated muscle cells do not undergo dedifferentiation
d) There are muscle specific marker proteins like myosin and tubulin
12. Evidence for the formation of multinucleate cells by cell fusion include
a) The process occurs too quickly for rounds of DNA replication to have occurred
b) The process takes place in the presence of DNA synthesis inhibitors
c) Cell fusion has been observed by time lapse photography
d) Meiotic chromosomes have not been observed
13. Zymogen activation involves the following steps
a) Initial synthesis of the protein with an inactivating prefix
b) Cleavage of the inactivating C terminal prefix by a specific protease
c) Transport of the inactive protein from its site of synthesis to its site of activation
d) Folding of the resultant protein to form the active site of the enzyme after removal of the
prefix.
14. Zymogen activation is
a) A method of rapidly converting an inactive protein to an active protein
b) An irreversible reaction
c) Does not require RNA synthesis
d) Requires rapid protein synthesis
15. Types of zymogen activation includes
a) Single step activation of hormones such as pro-insulin
b) Involvement of the kidney in the synthesis of inactive digestive enzymes
c) Complex cascade activation as in blood clotting involving fibrinogen
d) 2 step activation of digestive enzymes such as enterokinase
16. After removal of the prefix from a zymogen enzyme
a) The enzyme precursor can now fold properly
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b) The active site of the enzyme is formed

c) Binding of substrate to the activated enzyme does not change
d) Binding of substrate to the activated enzyme increase many fold
17. Concerning zymogens
a) Zymogens can be activated when cells are broken open due to the release of activating
protease
b) Protease inhibitors knock out the action of released proteases
c) Protease inhibitors have permitted the discovery of new zymogen proteins
d) Control of the timing of activation of specific proteases is the key to this method of protein
activation
18. The functions of the amphibian egg are
a) To provide the haploid female nucleus
b) To provide an energy source needed for initial growth of the embryo
c) To supply a species barrier against fertilization by the wrong sperm
d) To provide cytoplasmic factors which are passed on to all daughter cells
19. In development of the amphibian egg
a) Most egg growth occurs during vitellogenesis
b) Much of the development is completed before meiosis is completed
c) The process is relatively prolonged compared to the time period of spermatogenesis
d) Meiosis is completed prior to structural differentiation
20. The following are features of egg yolk proteins
a) Vitellogenin is cleaved to produce phosvitin and lipovitellin in the liver
b) Vitellogenin is produced in the liver in response to estrogen
c) Lipovitellin is rich in lipid groups and has a molecular weight of 55,000
d) Specific enzymes add lipid and phosphate groups to vitellogenin in the liver
21. In development of the egg, estrogen
a) Induces the expression of the vitellogenin gene in the liver
b) Stimulates the cleavage of vitellogenin to phosvitin and lipovitellin
c) Turns off the expression of genes such as albumin in the liver
d) Stimulates the oviduct to turn on the expression of genes encoding jelly coat proteins
22. Liver cells grown in tissue culture are a nice system for studying vitellogenesis because
a) The hormones which are involved in induction of the vitellogenin gene have been identified
b) It can be shown that very low levels of estrogen are needed
c) The repression of the other liver genes, like insulin can be studied
d) The estrogen receptor can be conveniently studied
23. Post-translational modifications of vitellogenin which occur in the liver include
a) Cleavage of the vitellogenin protein
b) Export of vitellogenin to the blood stream
c) Packaging to the vitellogenin into Golgi vesicles
d) Addition of phosphate and lipid groups by enzymes in the ER
24. Gonadotrophin
a) Is produced in the female amphibian pituitary triggered by environmental cues
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b) Causes the ovary to produce progesterone

c) Co-ordinates the induction of egg yolk protein and jelly coat proteins
d) Induces the meiotic maturation of the egg
25. Progesterone
a) Is transported to its site of action by the blood stream
b) Binds to receptors in the amphibian oviduct
c) Induces the expression of genes encoding jelly coat proteins in the oviduct
d) Induces the uptake of vitellogenin into the ovary
26. The sequence of events during spermatogenesis in the trout includes
a) Seasonal changes are detected by the sensory stimulating the hypothalamus to produce
luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)
b) FSH cause cells in the testes to produce testosterone
c) LH causes other testes cells to produce androgen binding hormone (ABH)
d) ABH acts to retain testosterone in the seminiferous tubules at the correct concentration to
induce spermatogenesis
27. Ideas concerning the requirement for replacing histones with preotamine in spermatogenesis
include
a) Protamines permit chromatin condensation and streamlining of the sperm head
b) Protamines are a mechanism to inhibit all gene activity in the sperm except that required for
motility
c) Protamines protect the male haploid genome from adverse environmental conditions
d) Protamines erase most of the previous gene expression history of these cells
28. During spermatogenesis
a) Meiotic reduction division is completed before the structured transformation to form sperm
cells starts
b) The sperm surface acquires surface recognition proteins which enable the sperm to
recognise the egg of the same species
c) The time required for spermatogenesis is brief compared to the time required for egg
development
d) Testosterone plays a role only in triggering the differentiation process
29. The formation of internal organs like the pancreas and the lung
a) Involves the interaction of 2 cellular layers, the internal epithelial layer (IEL) and the
mesenchymal layer (ML)
b) The ML supplies the inducing factors
c) The intersection of the IEL and ML can be studied in organ culture experiments
d) The differentiated, specialised cells of internal organs arise from the IEL and ML
30. Concerning formation of the lung
a) Growing tracheal internal epithelial cells alone in organ culture produces no organised lung
structures
b) Addition of tracheal mesenchymal cells to the lung internal epithelial cells produces
branched tree-like structures in culture
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c) The type of lung mesenchymal cell which is present in the organ culture influences the
nature of the inductive response in the lung epithelial cells
d) The only role of the ML is to supply inducing factor
31. Concerning development of components of the digestive tract
a) Different subpopulations of mesenchymal cells are found in different segments along the
length of the digestive tract
b) These subpopulations induced the internal epithelial cells lining the digestive tract to
differentiate into a range of specialised cell types
c) Non-gut internal epithelial cells can be induced by gut mesenchymal cells to differentiate
into specific cell types which line the gut
d) The presence of the internal epithelial cells is required to maintain the differentiated state if
the adjacent mesenchymal cells
32. Pancreatic internal epithelial cells differentiate into
a) Exocrine cells which make and secrete insulin
b) Endocrine cells which make and secrete digestive enzymes
c) Blood vessels
d) Islets of Langerhans cells which make and secret glucagon
33. The mesenchymal factor involved in pancreatic development
a) Binds to the surface of the pancreatic internal epithelial cells
b) It then enters the internal epithelial cell and changes the pattern of cell expression
c) The factor must be present throughout the appropriate phase
d) Isolated mesenchymal factor cannot substitute for the presence of mesenchymal cells
34. The morphological shape of a structure may result from
a) Localised differences in cell division rates as in development of the pancreas
b) Localised differences in the shape of individual cells as in development of the neural tube
c) Localised deposition of extracellular matrix material as in development of bones
d) Localised apoptosis as in the development of the salivary gland.
35. Events in formation of the neural tube include
a) Initial formation of cell to cell junctions in cells at the neural plate
b) Elongation of cells at the neural plate by parallel microtubules
c) Narrowing of these cells at the upper end by a ring of microtubules
d) Changes in cell shape resulting in apparent cell movement
36. Concerning development of the digits of the hand
a) Columns of cells in the hand are programmed to die to define the digits
b) The cell death program involves the expression of a specific set of genes
c) The cell death program is triggered by specific signals
d) Cells destined to die in the developing hand can be identified because they exclude the stain
nile blue sulfates
37. During apoptosis
a) The cell nucleus and the cytoplasm are broken down in an ordered series of events
b) The breakdown products are absorbed by surrounding cells
c) there is no release of poisonous substances to the surrounding cells
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d) The process occurs in developing tissues not in adult tissue.

38. During morphogenesis is one of the following processes most important:
a) Localised cell division
b) Localised cell death
c) Change in the shape of individual cells
d) All of the above processes must be integrated together during development of an organism
39. Genes involved in programmed cell death include:
a) Ced-1 and ced-2 genes are involved in the initiation phases of the program
b) Ced-3 and ced-4 genes are turned on to activate the phagocytosis of dying cells
c) The nuc-1 gene encodes a nuclease involved in the breakdown of RNA in the cell targeted
for cell death
d) The cell death genes have been studied in the shaping of the gonad in the worm, C elegans.
40. The following systems can be used to study expression of the vitellogenin gene
a) The female frog
b) The male frog after injection of estrogen
c) Liver cells grown in tissue culture
d) Pieces of liver grown in culture
41. Cytoplasmic events which occur in the liver after induction of the vitellegenin gene include
a) The overall protein synthesis capacity of the liver is greatly increased
b) Vitellogenin builds up at high levels
c) There is a build up of membrane bound polysomes
d) Vitellogenin mRNA builds up faster after the second injection of inducing hormone
42. Zymogen activation
a) Was initially discovered in precursors of digestive enzymes
b) It is now apparent that zymogen activation is a more widespread process
c) All zymogen activation reactions involve cleavage of a peptide bond by limited proteolysis
d) This cleavage is controlled by the ‘lock and key’ interaction of the attacking protease and the
target zymogen
43. Examples of ‘levels of control of gene expression’ which are operative in development include
a) Transcriptional control which influences which genes will be expressed as RNAs
b) Translational control which influences when mRNA species will be expressed as proteins
c) Post-translational control which influences when the protein product is biologically active
d) Zymogen activation which is an additional example of translational control
44. Examples of zymogen activation in developmental systems include roles in
a) Fertilization such as activation of proacrosin
b) Frog metamorphosis such as prothrombin
c) Insect metamorphosis such as prococconase
d) Hormone activation such as trypsinogen
45. Steps involved in muscle cell differentiation in culture include:
a) Mono-nucleated myoblasts divide in the tissue culture
b) The myoblasts stop dividing and fuse to form multi-nucleate cells
c) Muscle specific genes are induced by the event of cell fusion
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d) Muscle fibres appear and exhibit contractility

Long answer ques: Discuss how you would experimentally study the molecular biology of the
transformation of a normal cell to the cancer state at the gene level?

Exam 2: December
1. What cell types cannot become cancerous?
a) Cells undergoing a controlled rate of cell division like adult neurons
b) Cells that do no self-assemble into tissues
c) Virtually any cell type in the body
d) Cells that have not yet differentiated
e) Cells that are actively dividing
2. Which of the following is a property of contact inhibition?
a) Involves the principle of unregulated cell division
b) Requires cell to cell recognition
c) Results in a single layer of cells grown in vitro
d) Is not important in developmental processes
e) Is unaffected in cancer cells
3. Why is comparison of the biochemistry of a cancer cell and its originating cell type difficult?
a) Glucose uptake differs in cancer vs. Normal cells
b) One cell type is dividing and the other is not
c) It is difficult to distinguish primary and secondary effects of some cancer inducers
d) Dedifferentiation of the normal cell hampers identification of the original cell type
e) There are no laboratory techniques available
4. Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding antigenic differences between
normal and transformed cells?
a) Antigenic differences are a less common occurrence than originally suspected
b) Antigenic differences have been suggested from data on immunosuppressive drugs
c) Antigenic differences cannot be used to combat cancer
d) Antigenic differences are unlikely because the body would detect them
e) Antigenic differences cause cancer cells to divide uncontrollably
5. Which of the following regarding chemical agents that induce cancers are/is false?
a) May be present in the diet
b) May be organic or inorganic molecules
c) May cause other damage to cells beside inducing transformation
d) May induce many cells in the target population to transform
e) May be found in some forms of radiation
6. How do viruses behave in cells?
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a) Replicate in a host cell and cause it to burst

b) Insert in mitochondrial DNA into cells
c) Have no harmful effects on cells
d) Transform targets cells less efficiently than carcinogens and radiation
e) Induce cancer in a non-specific fashion
7. Which of the following is a property of oncogenes?
a) They are altered versions of normal genes
b) They play a role in controlled cell division in normal cells
c) They are rarely generated by chemicals
d) They are expressed during development
e) They are often given 4 letter designations
8. Which is true regarding interleukin-2 (IL-2)?
a) IL-2 changes white blood cells into plasma cells
b) IL-2 change B lymphocytes in a tumour to tumour infiltrating lymphocytes
c) IL-2 is routinely used in clinical trials to combat cancer
d) IL-2 is important in the body’s normal immune-defensive mechanism
9. What cells can tumour necrosis factor kill?
a) Cancer cells grown in tissue culture
b) Normal cells in the body
c) Cancer cells in the body
d) Normal cells grown in tissue culture
e) All of the above are correct
10. Why are tissue culture systems ideal for studying cell differentiation?
a) Complicating factors form the surrounding cells are present
b) Required inducing factors must first be identified
c) Differentiation of a single defined cell population can be studied
d) Loss of differentiated features is not a problem
e) Cells behave the same way in culture as they do in the animal
11. In what organelles is vitellogenin first cleaved into phosvitin and lipovitellin?
a) Coated vesicle
b) Endosome
c) Multivesicular bodies
d) Primordial yolk platelets
e) Yolk platelets
12. Which of the following is not a characteristic of Sertoli cells?
a) Tight junctions among sertoli cells and developing spermatogenesis form the blood-testes
barrier
b) Secrete transferrin, which is involved in ion transport to spermatogonia
c) Secrete inhibin, which is secreted into the blood and suppresses follicle stimulating
hormones production
d) Govern the rate of spermatogenesis by controlling movement of germ cells from basal
lamina to the lumen
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e) Are required for spermatogonia to differentiate in cell cultures

13. Unfortunately a mutation has occurred in a spermatid that has resulted in tubulin not ___ able
to assemble into microtubules. The cell chose to not undergo apoptosis and continue its
development. How would you expect this spermatid to look after differentiation?
a) Normal (streamlined head and a long tail)
b) Round head and short tail
c) Round cell with minimal cytoplasm
d) Round head and a long tail
e) A spermatid
14. Which of the following is a feature of somite differentiation?
a) Somites flatten with development as the outer wall becomes thicker
b) Myotome cells will differentiate into smooth muscle
c) Dermatome cells will differentiate into connective tissue
d) Sclerotome cells will differentiate into ligament tissue
e) Somites arise from the ectodermal germ layer
15. What evidence lends support to the cell fusion theory of formation of multinucleated cells?
a) No chromosomes are observed
b) Multinucleated cell form in the presence of actinomysin
c) Cell mixing of labelled and non-labelled myoblasts showed that nuclei of the resulting
multinucleated cells were either all labelled or all not labelled
d) The time it takes for multinucleated cells to arise is too long to support the cell fusion theory
e) Time-lapse photography failed to show myoblasts joining together
16. Pretend you just cloned the protamine gene. Now you are interested in studying the
expression of this new found gene. You know very lttle about this protein or its function. The
only thing you know is that it is expressed by sperm cells. What would be the best method to
study at what cellular stage the protamine gene is induced during spermatgogensis?
a) Northern blotting
b) Western blotting
c) In situ hybridization
d) Immunocyto-chemistry
e) Fast green stain experiment
17. Which is one of the functions of the liver?
a) Breakdown of lipids
b) Conversion of excess amino acids into urea
c) Controlled breakdown of glucose into glycogen
d) Maintenance if blood carbohydrates levels
e) Production of digestive enzymes
18. Which of the following is a feature of cell junctions?
a) Desmosomes tend to be found in the basal-lateral portion of epithelial cells
b) Gap junctions allow passage of small molecules (less than 10kDa) directly between cells
c) Only desmosomes connect to intermediate filaments
d) Adherens junctions tend to be found on the basal area of epithelial cells
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e) Hemidesmosomes tend to be found on the apical area of epithelial cells

19. Place the steps of apoptosis in order:
a) Phagocytosis engulf and destroy the cell fragments
b) Blebs (bubble-shaped balls of plasma membrane) appear on the cell surface
c) Cell breaks down into smaller fragments
d) Cell undergoes a reduction in size
e) Cellular components breakdown and condense
20. Which one of the following processes is most important during morphogenesis?
a) Change in shape of individual cells
b) Localised cell division
c) Localised cell death
d) Localised cell movement
e) All of the above processes are important
21. What statement regarding the genes involved in programmed cell death is correct?
a) Ced-1 and Ced-2 genes are involved in the initiation phases of the cell death
b) Ced-3 and Ced-4 genes are turned on to activate the phagocytosis of the dying cell
c) Nuc-1 gene encodes a nuclease involved in the breakdown of RNA in the dying cell
d) The genes involved in programmed cell death differ among species
e) The cell death genes have been studied in the shaping of the gonad of the roundworm
22. What systems can be used to study the expression of the vitellogenin gene?
a) The female frog
b) The male frog after injection of estrogen
c) Liver cells grown in tissue culture
d) Pieces of liver grown in vitro
23. What cytoplasmic events occur in the liver after induction of the vitellogenin gene?
a) Overall protein synthesis capacity of the liver is greatly increased
b) Vitellogenin mRNA builds up at high-levels but is not translated immediately
c) There is a build up of free-floating ribosomes
d) Vitellogenin mRNA builds up faster after the second injection of inducing hormones
e) Vitellogenin protein is lapidated and glycosylated
24. Regarding zymogen activation, which of the following is true?
a) All zymogen activation reactions involve cleavage of a peptide bond by limited proteolysis
b) Zymogen activation was initially discovered in the blood clotting pathway
c) Zymogen activation occurs less frequently than originally believed
d) Cleavage of the zymogen is controlled by the “lock and key” interaction of the attacking
phosphatase and the target zymogen
e) Zymogen activation always occurs before transport to its target destination
25. What are examples of levels of control of gene expression that are operative throughout
development?
a) Translational control that influence which genes will be expressed as RNAs
b) Transcriptional control, which influences when mRNA will be expressed as proteins
c) Post-translational control, which influence when the protein product is biologically active
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d) Zymogen activation which is an example of translational control

e) Post-translational control such as phosphorylation of mRNA species
26. What systems involve zymogen activation?
a) Fertilization such as activation of chymotrypsinogen
b) Insect metamorphosis such as prococoonase
c) Frog metamorphosis such as prothrombin
d) Hormone activation such as pre-insulin
e) Digestive enzyme activation such as proacrosin
27. What steps are involved in muscle cell differentiation in culture?
a) Mononucleated myoblasts divide in tissue culture
b) Myoblasts stop dividing and fuse to form multinucleated cells
c) Muscle specific genes are induced by the event of cell fusion
d) Muscle fibres appear and exhibit contractility
e) All of the above steps are involved
28. Organ culture experiments, how do lung cells behave?
a) Growing tracheal internal epithelial cells alone in organ culture produces organised lung
structures
b) Addition of tracheal mesenchymal cells to the lung internal epithelial cells produces
branched tree-like structures
c) The type of lung mesenchymal cell that is present in organ culture influences that nature of
the inductive response in the lung-epithelial cells
d) The only role of cells originating from the mesenchymal layer is to supply inducing factors
e) The internal epithelial cells can supply the mesenchymal cells with inducing factors that
cause the differentiation of the mesenchyme
29. How do the mesenchymal and internal epithelial call layers of the digestive tract interact?
a) Different subpopulations of mesenchymal cells induce the internal epithelial cells lining the
digestive tract to differentiate into a range of specialised cell types
b) Non-gut internal epithelial cells cannot be induced by gut mesenchymal cells to differentiate
into specific cell types that line the gut
c) The presence of the internal epithelial cells is necessary to maintain the differentiated state
of the mesenchymal cells
d) Non-gut mesenchymal cells can maintain the differentiated state of digestive tract internal
epithelial cells
e) Once the internal epithelial cell layer has differentiated, mesenchymal cells are no longer
necessary to maintain the differentiated state of the internal epithelial cells
30. What cell types do pancreatic internal epithelial cells differentiate?
a) Islets of Langerhans cells, which make and secrete glucagon
b) Endothelial cells that line blood vessels
c) Endocrine cells, which make and secrete digestive enzymes
d) Exocrine cells, which make and secrete insulin
e) Cells that are found in connective tissue
31. What is a characteristic of the mesenchymal factor involved in pancreatic development?
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a) Binds to a cytoplasmic receptor of pancreatic internal epithelial cells

b) Changes gene expression by acting as a transcription factor
c) Must be present throughout the appropriate phase
d) Isolated factor cannot substitute for the presence of mesenchymal cells
e) Is an androgen
32. What is a mechanism that changes the morphological shape of a structure?
a) Localised differences in cell division rates as in the development of the digestive tract
b) Localised differences in the shape of the individual cells as in the development of the neural
tube
c) Localised deposition of extracellular matrix material as in the development of the lung
d) Localised apoptosis as in the development of the salivary gland
e) Localised re-arrangement of internal cytoskeletal framework as in the development of the
pancreas
33. What events are involved in the formation of the neural tube
a) Initial formation of cell to cell gap junctions in cells at the neural (or medullary) plate
b) Elongation of cells at the neural plate by cell growth
c) Narrowing of these cells at the upper end by a ring of microtubules
d) Increase in cell number by cell translocation
e) Changes in cell shape resulting in cell movement
34. Which of the following statements concerning the development of the digits of the hand are
true?
a) The cell death program is triggered by general signalling cues
b) The cell death program involves the expression of a specific set of genes
c) Columns of cells in the hand are programmed to proliferate to form the digits
d) The digits are formed by a series of steps involving cell replication and cell death
e) Cells destined to die in the developing hand can be identified because they exclude nile blue
sulphate stain
35. What evidence shows that DNA of the mature sperm head is highly ordered
a) Ability of certain sperm heads to pass non-polarised light
b) Electron microscope studies showing chromatin fibres oriented parallel to the long axis of
the cell
c) The replacement of histones by protamines
d) The loss of the bulk of the cytoplasmic mass of the cell
e) The arrangement of microtubules around the nucleus
36. Which of the following is a property of fast green stain
a) Fast green at neutral pH stains only cytoplasmic proteins
b) Fast green at pH 8 is unaffected by deamination
c) Fast green pH 8 (with or without deamination) stains mainly the nucleus
d) All of the above are correct
37. Concerning expression of the protamine gene during spermatogenesis
a) Protamine mRNA appears in the cytoplasm in association with ribosomes at the ‘mic
spermatid’ stage
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b) Translation of protamine mRNA is delayed until ‘late spermatid’

c) Protamine mRNA breaks down after the correct amount of protamine has been made
d) The protamine gene is turned on at the ‘early spermatid’ stage
38. Which of the following regarding the mechanism of the replacement of histones by
protamines during spermatogenesis is true?
a) As soon as protamine proteins are made in the cytoplasm, they are phosphorylated to
facilitate binding to their carrier proteins
b) Protamine is dephosphorylated as soon as it enters the nucleus
c) In the nucleus, protamine is dephosphorylated and binds to DNA free of histones
d) Histones are removed from nuclear DNA by enzymatic phosphorylation of the histones,
which reduces the overall negative charge of the protein
e) While waiting for histones to be removed form DNA, protamine is bound by a transitional
protein to stop it from sticking to other molecules
39. What are ideas concerning the purpose of replacing histones with protamines in
spermatogenesis?
a) Protamines permit chromatin condensation and streamlining of the sperm head
b) Protamines are a mechanism to inhibit all gene activity in the sperm except that required for
motility
c) Protamines protect the male haploid genome from adverse environmental conditions
d) Protamines erase most of the previous gene expression history of these cells
40. Which statement regarding spermatogensis is correct?
a) Meiotic reduction division is completed before the initiation of the structural transformation
to form defined sperm cells
b) The sperm surface acquires surface recognition proteins that enable the sperm to recognise
the egg of the same species
c) The time required for spermatogensis is brief compared to the time required for oogenesis
d) Testosterone plays a role only in triggering the differentiation process
e) All of the above are correct
41. What is involved in the formation of internal organs like the pancreas and the lung?
a) 2 cellular layers, the internal endothelial layer (IEL) and the mesenchymal layer (ML) interact
b) The ML rarely supplies the factors that cause cellular differentiation
c) The differentiated cells of internal organs arise from both cell layers
d) Branching of internal organs is the result of a series of cell proliferation and cell death
sequences
e) The inducing factors for internal organ formation tend to be hormones
42. What are the features of egg yolk proteins?
a) Vitellogenin is cleaved to produce phosvitin and lipovitellin in the liver
b) Vitellogenin is produced in the liver in response to estrogen
c) Lipovitellin is rich in lipid groups and has a molecular weight of 55,000 daltons
d) Specific enzymes add lipid and phosphate groups to Vitellogenin in the liver
43. What is the role of estrogen in the development of the egg
a) Induces the expression of the Vitellogenin gene in the liver
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b) Stimulates the cleavage of Vitellogenin into phosvitin and lipovitellin

c) Turns off expression of genes such as albumin in the liver
d) Stimulates the oviduct to turn on the expression of genes encoding jelly coat proteins
44. Why are liver cells grown in tissue culture a useful system for studying vitellogenesis?
a) The variety of hormones that are involved in the induction of the Vitellogenin gene have
been identified
b) It can be shown that very low levels of progesterone are needed
c) The repression of other liver genes, like insulin, can be studied
d) The estrogen receptor can be conveniently studied
e) It is a complex system that allows many interactions to be studied
45. What are some post-translational modifications of vitellogenin which occur in the liver
a) Addition of phosphate and lipid groups
b) Packaging Vitellogenin protein into vesicles
c) Export of Vitellogenin to the blood stream
d) Cleavage of vitellogenin protein
e) More than one above
46. What is a characteristic of gonadotrophins
a) Produced in the female amphibian hypothalamus in response to environmental cues
b) Causes ovary thecal cells to produce estrogen
c) Co-ordinates the induction of egg yolk protein and jelly coat protein
d) Induces meiotic maturation of the egg
e) Only has effects on female gamete development
47. What is a feature of progesterone?
a) Is transported to its site of action by a carrier protein
b) Induces the expression of jelly coat proteins
c) Binds to receptors on amphibian follicle cells
d) Induces the uptake of Vitellogenin into the oocyte
e) Induces the completion of mitosis in the oocyte
48. What step is included in the sequence of events during spermatogenesis in the trout?
a) Seasonal changes are detected by the sensory system stimulating the hypothalamus to
produce luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)
b) FSH causes cells in the testes to produce testosterone
c) LH causes other cells in the testes to produce androgen binding protein (ABP)
d) FSH has a direct negative feedback mechanism on the pituitary gland
e) ABP acts to retain testosterone in the seminiferous tubules at correct concentration
49. What are the functions of sperm?
a) Provide a vehicle for transfer of genetic information
b) Have the capability of independent movement
c) Protect the male haploid genetic information
d) Erase previous gene expression history and shut down gene expression
e) All of the above are correct
50. Why are muscle cells grown in tissue culture a useful model system?
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a) The process occurs in culture with addition of required inducing factors

b) The process is associated with a distinct series of molecular series of events
c) The differentiated muscle cells undergo dedifferentiation
d) There are muscle specific marker proteins like myosin and tubulin
e) The morphological changes enable easy isolation of cell stages
51. What is the evidence for the formation of multinucleated cells by fusion?
a) The process occurs in enough time for DNA replication to have occurred
b) The process occurs in the presence of DNA synthesis inhibitors
c) Cell fusion has been observed with the naked eye
d) Meiotic chromosomes have not been observed
e) Nuclei of a multinucleated cell are all labelled in cell mixing experiments
52. What steps are involved in zymogen activation of digestive enzymes
a) Initial synthesis of the protein with an inactivating prefix at the C terminal
b) Cleavage of the inactivating prefix by a specific phosphatase
c) Transport of the inactive protein from site of synthesis to site of activation
d) Folding of the protein to form the active site after prefix removal
e) Removal of the activating prefix after the zymogen is packaged in vesicles
53. What is true regarding zymogen activation?
a) A rapid way to get an active protein
b) An irreversible reaction
c) Does not require RNA synthesis
d) Involves rapid protein synthesis
54. Which of the following is an example of zymogen activation
a) Single step activation of zymogens such as insulin
b) Involvement of the kidney in the synthesis of inactive digestive enzymes
c) Complex cascade activation as in blood clotting involving fibrinogen
d) 2 step activation of digestive enzymes such as trypsin
e) Single step activation of hormones in the blood stream
55. What is an effect of the removal of the prefix from a zymogen enzyme?
a) The enzyme can only now fold in its proper conformation
b) The active, substrate-binding site of the enzyme is formed
c) Binding of the substrate to the activated enzyme does not change
d) Binding of the substrate to the activated enzyme increases many fold
e) The enzyme now has the ability to enter the cell
56. Which of the following regarding zymogens is false
a) Zymogens can be activated when cells are broken open due to the release of the
endogenous proteases
b) Protease inhibitors knock out the action of released proteases
c) Protease inhibitors have permitted the discovery of new zymogen protein
d) More zymogens exist than originally believed
e) Control of the timing of activation of specific proteases is unimportant
57. What are the functions of human egg?
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a) To provide a diploid nucleus

b) To provide an energy source throughout fetal development
c) To supply a species barrier against fertilization by the wrong sperm
d) To provide cytoplasmic factors which are passed on to all daughter cells
e) All of the above are correct
58. What occurs in the development of the amphibian egg?
a) Most growth occurs during vitellogenesis
b) Most of the development is completed after meiosis is completed
c) Oogenesis is about the same duration length as spermatogenesis
d) Meiosis is completed prior to structural differentiation
e) Meiosis does not begin until after structural differentiation