Chapter 5 Multiple choice questions

. Which of the following, in the context of pharmacology, best defines a 'biologic'?

A treatment consisting of living cells

A treatment consisting of a large molecule (eg a protein)

A drug that has a biological effect

A drug produced in a bioreactor

. Which one of the following is NOT a post-translational modification (PTM)?

mRNA sequence

Glycosylation

Phosphorylation

Cleavage of a pre-protein to the final form

. Which of the following is NOT a useful feature of CHO cells?

They grow in simple culture conditions (by the standards of mammalian cells).

They can make most human post-translational modifications to proteins.

They can be introduced into the body without rejection.

There is a great deal of data for clinical products already made in them.

. How do engineers wanting to express a clinically useful protein in cow milk typically ensure it is expressed in the mammary glands (udder)?

Place its gene under the control of a housekeeping promoter so that it is expressed everywhere

Place its gene under the control of any gene expressed only in females

Inject the construct into cells of the mammary glands

Place its gene under the control of the prolactin-sensitive promoter

. Which of the following is NOT currently an advantage of using genetic engineering, rather than traditional breeding, to introduce new characteristics into livestock?

Increased predictability of outcome

Increased speed of project

Ability to express a protein characteristic of one animal in another

Public acceptance

. Which one of the following best describes how placing adiponectin under the control of the MAPK pathway in theranostic cells helps control type II diabetes?

Cell stress drives MAPK activity, driving secretion of adiponectin, which increases the secretion of insulin.

Insulin drives MAPK activity, driving secretion of adiponectin, which allows glucose to enter the cell from the blood.

Insulin drives MAPK activity, driving secretion of adiponectin, which increases the sensitivity of normal body cells to insulin.

Insulin drives MAPK activity, driving secretion of adiponectin, which causes the theranostic cells to secrete insulin.

. Which one of the following best describes a transcriptional hotspot in the genome?

A gene-rich location that favours high levels of transcription

A region of the nucleus that is heated by the energy-liberating reactions of transcription

A region of the cytoplasm in which most transcription takes place

A locus in which transcription rates are strongly enhanced by elevated temperatures

. Which of the following correctly identifies the main advantage of using human cell lines for production of a biologic?

They are simpler to culture than the cells of other mammals.

They can be injected into the body without rejection.

They have more chromosomes, and so more safe landing sites.

They achieve a complete set of post-transcriptional modifications correct for human proteins.

. Which of the following best defines serum half-life?

Half the time it takes for a molecule of serum to be destroyed

The time it takes for half of the molecules in a fresh batch of serum to be destroyed

The time it takes for half of the drug molecules introduced into blood to be destroyed

The time it takes for half of the drug molecules introduced into blood to be removed from blood

. Which one of the following statements does NOT describe an advantage of producing anti-viral vaccines by engineering mammalian cells to produce just parts of a virus?

This allows just parts of a virus to be produced, avoiding the dangers of producing the complete virus.

By producing a vaccine with just parts of a virus, exposure to the virus 'in the wild' can be tested even in vaccinated persons by looking for antibodies to parts of the virus, not in the vaccine.

Human cells will give viral proteins human-type post-translational modifications.

This method requires no purification steps for the proteins.

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