BIOMO306 QUIZ ONE QUESTIONS

1. Spinal cord injury often results in permanent paralysis because:

Select one:

a) Lewy bodies form in axons after injury

b) Demyelination occurs, which slows down neuronal action potentials

c. levels of acetylcholine are reduced in the spinal cord after injury

d. axons in the central nervous system do not regenerate

2. If a person has an ischemic stroke, how quickly should the person be treated to minimise long-
term problems?

Select one:

a. within 1 hour

b. within 30 minutes

c. within 3 hours

d. within 2 hours

The correct answer is C. Within 3 hours.

Ischemic strokes are treated with a medicine called t-PA. This medicine dissolves blood clots blocking
blood flow to the brain, according to the NINDS. To work as it should, the drug must be given within
3 hours after stroke symptoms start. Because a person who may be having a stroke must be looked
at by hospital staff, the NINDS says that the person must arrive at the hospital within an hour after
the symptoms start.

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by which of the following: (check all that apply)

Select one or more:

a. Lewy bodies composed of alpha-synuclein

b. Accumulation of amyloid beta 42

c. Deposits of hyperphosphorylated Tau

d. Accumulation of a polyglutamine repeat protein

4. Polyglutamine repeats in mutant huntingtin sequester transcription factors leading reduce cellular
gene expression

Select one:

True
False

The polyglutamine repeats increases cellular gene expression

5. Gray and white matter in the brain and spinal cord a predominantly composed of:

Select one:

a. Myelinated axons and neuronal cell bodies, respectively

b. Neurons and bone, respectively

c. Neurons and blood vessels, respectively

d. Neuronal cell bodies and myelinated axons, respectively

Gray matter of the brain and spinal cord consists of neuronal cell bodies and unsheathed nerve fibers
in the cortex or surface layer. The white matter makes up the internal structure and consists of
myelinated nerve fibers

6. Concussions resulting from whiplash, in which the head did not make contact with an external
object, is the result of the brain hitting the inside of the skull.

True

False

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the
head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This
sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical
changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells.

7. Stroke can result in impairments that are:

Select one:

a. Contralateral to the damaged hemisphere

b. Ipsilateral to the damaged hemisphere.

The stroke, brain injuries, and spinal cord injury all have in common

Select one:

a. Damage to, or loss of, neurons (and neural tissue)

b. Damage to, or loss of, axons

c. Damage to, or loss of, synapses

d. A and B

e. A, B, and C
9. Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the death of which neurons:

Select one:

a. Substantia nigra neurons

b. Corticospinal neurons

c. Perkinje neurons

d. Striatal neurons

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder characterized by the loss of midbrain dopaminergic

neurons in the substantia nigra. The dopamine is synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine.

10. Nogo, MAG, CSPGs, and OMgp are all myelin-derived molecules that prevent axon growth

Select one:

True

False

Myelin debris in the injured territory signal to the axon and prevent its regrowth

• Myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG)

• Oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein (OMpg)

• Nogo

Also astrocytes produce chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), which both signal to the axon and
form a “scar” barrier for regeneration

Receptors in the axon – Nogo Receptor (NgR), TROY, LINGO, PirB, and PTP-sigma – transduce signals
intracellularly to halt growth

11. What might RNA silencing be a good therapeutic approach for:

Select one:

a. Huntington’s disease

b. Stroke

c. Alzheimer’s disease

d. Parkinson’s disease.

RNA Silencing

• Anti-sense oligonucleotides targeting m-htt

• RNA interference targeting m-htt

• RNAi injected into CSF

 • Virus injected into:

• CSF

• Putamen

• Virus inserted into bone marrow

• Inserted via nanotube and heavy metal through the olfactory bulbs

12. Why is levodopa given to patients with Parkinson’s disease?

Select one:

a. It remains in the synaptic cleft for longer

b. it is more stable than dopamine

c. It crosses the blood brain barriers

d. It is stronger than dopamine.

Fortunately, levodopa can cross the blood brain barrier and, as it is a 'precursor' to dopamine, the
body can turn it into dopamine

13. A major component of a neurofibrillary tangle is:

Select one:

a. Mutant huntingtin

b. Hyperphosphorylated Tau

c. Amyloid beta 42

d. Miss-folded alpha-synuclein.

Tangles (neurofibrillary tangles) are aggregates of the microtubule-associated protein tau which has
become hyperphosphorylated and accumulate inside the cells themselves

14. Why is BACE a target for a disease modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease?

Select one:

a. It improves gene expression/transcription rates

b. It cleaves the amyloid precursor protein

c. It modulates neurotransmitter release and synapses

d. It stabilizes tubulin in the microtubule.

• Beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitors target the beta-secretase enzymes involved
in the first step of cleaving APP, whereas gamma-secretase inhibitors act on the second
cleavage step
15. The RAGs, STAT3, DLK-1, ATF3, KLF4, KLF7, SMAD1, SPRR1A, are all examples in genes in neurons
whose expression prevents axon regeneration.

Select one:

True

False

For example: Lack of RAG induction (e.g. STAT3, DLK-1, ATF3, KLF4, KLF7, SMAD1, SPRR1A). Inhibitors
of axon regrowth (e.g. PTEN/mTOR, HDAC5, SOCS3, EFA-6)

16. Why are axonal microtubules important? (check all that apply)

Select one or more:

a. They make up the cytoskeleton and provide structural integrity against damage

b. They provide a network of roads in the axon with which to move cargos such as mitochondria,
proteins, and RNAs

c. They are highly dynamic and form mitotic spindles to sperate chromosomes during anaphase

d. they play an important role in axon growth.