Question

1) What are the fates of a stem cell and when would these fates be induced to occur on a given tissue?

2) Explain how cancer development be compared to evolution in terms of mutations? Relate this to why cancer is more prevalent with age.

3) Explain why p53 is refeered to as “the guardian of the genome” in your own words. Be sure to discuss its normal function, it’s role in cell signaling, and the responses to DNA damage. Then what happens in cancer?

4) Why are targeted therapies more desirable than classical cancel treatments?

Answer 1

There are four fates to a stem cell.
1. Self-renewal: The cell retains its meristematic activity and proliferates further

2. Differentiation and lineage-specification: The cell undergoes differentation to produce a permanant tissue with a specific function

3. Programmed cell death: The cell will undergo apoptosis if it accumulates an unrepairable damage that can pose a threat to surrounding cells

4. Quiescence: The remains quiet (no division, differentiation, or active metabolism) in response to specific signals