BS2550 Neuronal and Cellular Signalling 2021 Exam (PDF)

BS2550 – NEURONAL AND CELLULAR SIGNALLING Open Book Exam Submission Deadline: 10am on Thursday 7th January 2021 THIS EXAM IS DESIGNED TO TAKE APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS Please answer THREE Questions. No credit will be given for a...

BS2550 – NEURONAL AND CELLULAR SIGNALLING Open Book Exam Submission Deadline: 10am on Thursday 7th January 2021 THIS EXAM IS DESIGNED TO TAKE APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS Please answer THREE Questions. No credit will be given for attempting any further questions. Please complete your answers electronically on the Template Answer Sheet provided including (a) the course number/name, (b) your candidate number and (c) the word count for your answer. For each question you attempt, please clearly state the question number. Pictures or diagrams can be included by photographing a hand drawn document or inserting an original image from elsewhere (e.g. a graph you have generated in Excel). Please do not include your name or Student ID Number anywhere on your work to ensure your work is marked anonymously. Word Limit: The maximum word count for each question is 700 words. You will not be penalised for longer answers, but work above the word limit will not be marked. All elements of your work will be counted, including any Tables and Figure Legends. Referencing: You are not expected to include citations or a reference list. Any work that is provided as a quotation from any source must be identified as such by using quotation marks, but remember that this is poor academic practice in biological sciences and is strongly discouraged; it may lead to a low mark. The exam must be written in your own words. Academic Misconduct: We will be checking assessments for academic misconduct as we do for all coursework assessments and any suspected offences will be investigated. Please remember: o Avoid plagiarism: Don’t copy and paste someone else’s words into your notes or drafts, or include your own words from a previous assignment. o Avoid collusion: Don’t show your work to another student before you submit it. Submitting your Work: o Answers to individual questions must be submitted as separate documents, into the relevant Turnitin submission box. o Please save your answer with a filename in the format: Course Code_Question number_Candidate Number e.g. BS2550_A1_2000001 o Your document must be submitted through Turnitin using the submission links in the module Moodle page. o If you are submitting a document with photos or diagrams you can reduce the size of the document by converting this to a PDF document - this will make the upload process quicker and easier. The maximum file upload size is 40 MB. o Only Word or PDF files can be submitted. o You should aim to submit your work as early as possible, in case of technical difficulties. Please do not leave your upload to the last few minutes before the deadline! If you any questions in relation to completing the exam or if you are have any difficulty completing this exam on time please e-mail us at: [email protected] Important Copyright Notice This exam paper has been made available in electronic form strictly for the educational benefit of current Royal Holloway students on the course of study in question. No further copying, distribution or publication of this exam paper is permitted. By printing or downloading this exam paper, you are consenting to these restrictions. Please answer THREE questions and submit through Turnitin. Recommended time for each question: 40 minutes. 1. Explain how neuronal cells establish and maintain the resting membrane potential (RMP). In your answer you should describe the main forces involved in the distribution of various ions across the membrane and discuss the property of the membrane critical for determining the RPM. Minor contributors to the RMP should be mentioned as well. 2. Describe an axon that can propagate fast electrical signals over long distances; discuss various anatomical features that could enable such propagation as well as the relevant biophysical properties of axons (capacitance, membrane resistance and internal resistance) propagating the signals. 3. Describe the fate of one molecule of glucose 6 phosphate that ultimately leads to the release of calcium from the endoplasmic reticulum and use your own diagrams to help illustrate your answer. Which steps in this pathway are the most important to cell signalling and why? 4. Using your knowledge of domain structures and functions, and/or protein-protein interactions, design a novel protein that will be activated by an extracellular signal, but only in the presence of calcium, which then regulates the activation of protein kinase A (PKA). Describe the pathway of activation. END No further copying, distribution or publication of this exam paper is permitted. By printing or downloading this exam paper, you are consenting to these restrictions.