Wednesday 10 March 2010

cell bio problem set question- sums up my last 2 weeks and next 2 weeks

Two pathways exist in a Tetrad 1st year winter quarter cell. The first one starts with a Cell Biology input that leads to the activation of Super Cool Biology (SCB). This recruits cell bio prof (DM) and the Cell Bio Crew (CBC). DM and CBC catalyze the formation of Memorable Quotes (MQ) which goes to the nucleus to turn on the transcription of Happy TAs (HTAs). HTAs promote Yummy Baked Goods (YBG) and Relatively Nice Grading (RNG) production, which all eventually lead to the outputs of Fun Times in Cell Biology and a awesome Cell Bio Proposal (CBP). The other pathway starts with a Bioreg input that also leads to the activation of SCB. However, this recruits bioreg prof (JL) and the Bioreg Crew (BRC). JL and BRC promote Central Dogma Overload (CDO), which leads to activation of Massive Memorization (MM). MM phosphorylates Freaking Out Over Proposal Ideas (FOOPI), which causes a conformational change that allows it to enter the nucleus and promote the transcription of CBP and Bioreg Specific Proposal (BSP). BSP goes on to activate Dread of Unknown Duo of Examiners (DUDE) and then Stressful Orals (SO). SO is a protein kinase that phosphorylates PASS or FAIL depending on inputs from other players that are not yet understood. Once phosphorylated, PASS catalyzes Sh!t-load of Drinking and Celebration (SLDC), while phosphorylated FAIL feeds back to Bioreg.

As mentioned above, the PASS or FAIL outcome is determined by unknown regulators. In vitro, SO phosphorylates both PASS and FAIL at equal rates. However, in vivo, SO activity is strongly biased towards PASS. A screen recently revealed a factor, Extreme Work (EW), the overexpression of which results in 100% PASS phosphorylation and 0% FAIL phosphorylation. Describe one possible mechanism for how EW could be providing PASS specificity to SO and how you would experimentally test this hypothesis.

-koping this from the problem set (Anna) without permission