DEV2011

Practical Week 6
Lecture Review Questions

These questions relate to lecture material from Week 5. Complete the questions prior to
Week 6. These are NOT assessed.


Lecture 13) Nerve tissues

Question 1: From which germ layer do neurons
form?
_________ectoderm_______________________

Question 2: The nervous system encompasses great
cellular diversity. One of those cell types is the
neuron. List 4 four important aspects of neurons
(use some of the terminology in this diagram ->):

1.___Fundamental unit of the nervous system

2.___Formed of a cell body (soma), with long processes extending

3.___Axon transports nervous message from cell body

4.___Dendrites receive connections from other neurons and transport the electrical
impulse to the cell body


Question 3: Which is the correct order for the following to form during neurulation?
Neural folds, neural tube, neural groove?
1.____neural groove____ 2. __neural folds_____ 3. ___neural tube____

Question 4: List 2 factors that are important in dorsal-ventral polarity of the neural tube,
and indicate whether they induce ventralisation or dorsalisation

1. ______Sonic hedgehog (SHH)____ ___ventralisation_________________

2. ______BMP4 or 7________________ ___dorsalisation_________________

Question 5: What is the importance of myelination?

____propagation of the action potential (NOTE: demyelination observed in diseases such as
multiple schlerosis)_

Question 6: Which structures will the following form?:

1. Diencephalon ___________thalamus______________
2. Mesencephalon _________midbrain_______________
3. Metencephalon _________posterior brain, including the
cerebellum_________



Lecture 14) Neural tube formation and defects

Question 1: From where does neural tube fusion begin?

___from the middle of the neural tube_________________

Question 2: In which direction does fusion/closure of the neural tube
initially progress?

Bidirectionally
_________________________________


Question 3:

Outline the specific neural tube defect that has led to the following conditions:

Spina bifida ___________some vertebrae are not completely closed
Craniorachischisis ______completely open brain and spinal cord
Anencephaly ___________open brain and lack of skull vault
Meningocele_________protrusion of the meninges (filled with cerebro-spinal fluid) through
a defect in the skull or spine


Question 4a: What imaging technology is usually employed to detect neural tube defects?

_____Ultrasonography_____________________________

Question 4b: What nutritional supplement are women encouraged to take to decrease the
chance of neural tube defects?

_________Folate (folic acid)_________________________


Question 5: What are two complex cognitive disorders that are show some association with
associated abnormal development? _____autism and schizophrenia_________________


Lecture 15) Cytoskeleton and cell mobility

Question 1: What are the 3 main components of the cytoskeleton?

1. _microtubules_______ 2. __microfilaments____ 3. ___intermediate filaments_____

Question 2: What are the 2 major proteins in microfilaments?

1. ___actin___________ 2. ____myosin_________________

Question 3: Name 2 structures you would find microtubules??

1. Mitotic spindle 2. Sperm tail (there are other examples, too)
1.______________________ 2___________________________

Question 4: Chemically distinct intermediate filaments are found in many different cell
types. Where would you be likely to find intermediate filaments containing the following 1.
Keratin __epithelium_______________
2. Vimentin __mesenchymal cells and derivatives________________
3. Desmin __muscle cells_________________
4. Glial fibrillary acidic proteins __astrocytes____________________

Question 5: If you were a neutrophil chasing a bacterium, which cytoskeletal
type would you be using for movement?
____(actin) microfilaments________________




Test your understanding:

On which of the following is the process of neurulation dependent?

Choose the CORRECT option below:

A. Signals from the lateral plate mesoderm
B. Increased levels of cadherin
C. Apoptosis to form the neural tube
D. Halting of the cell cycle
E. Chordamesoderm development

Why did you choose this answer?

The lateral plate mesoderm is not implicated directly in neurulation, and we need
DECREASED levels of cadherin to allow the tissues to move and be shaped. The neural tube
is not formed through apoptosis, and we need a lot of cell division to be continuing at this
stage of development. The interaction with the chordamesoderm is directly responsible for
driving the neurulation process

_______________________________________________________________