1. TECHNICAL VOCABULARY

SESSION 1

The cell

The cell (from Latin cella, meaning "small room") is the basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all known organisms. A cell is the smallest unit of life. Cells are often called the "building blocks of life". The study of cells is called cell biology, cellular biology, or cytology.
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VOCABULARY

STARTER: Which cell components can you name (and pronounce correctly!)?

Cell diagram

Diagram of a typical animal (eukaryotic) cell, showing subcellular components.
Credit: MesserWoland and Szczepan.

Organelles:

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DEFINITIONS

ABOUT HEMATOPOIESIS: Match the following terms with the corresponding definitions.

Hematopoiesis

Credit: Pinterest.

Definitions adapted from Wikipedia.org.

Element	Description
1. HSC (Hematopoietic stem cell)	A. A biological cell that, like a stem cell, has a tendency to differentiate into a specific type of cell, but is already more specific than a stem cell and is pushed to differentiate into its "target" cell. The most important difference between stem cells and these cells is that stem cells can replicate indefinitely, whereas these cells can divide only a limited number of times. Controversy about the exact definition remains and the concept is still evolving.
2. IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor 1)	B. A family of enzymes whose activity is dependent on cellular levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP). It has several functions in the cell, including regulation of glycogen, sugar, and lipid metabolism.
3. PKA (Protein kinase A)	C. A hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin. It plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults. A synthetic analog of this, mecasermin, is used for the treatment of growth failure. It consists of 70 amino acids in a single chain with three intramolecular disulfide bridges. and has a molecular weight of 7,649 daltons.
4. Progenitors	D. An imbalance in the ratio of lymphoid to myeloid cells in blood.
5. WBC (White Blood Cells)	E. The blood cells that give rise to all the other blood cells and are derived from mesoderm. They give rise to the myeloid (monocytes and macrophages, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, erythrocytes, megakaryocytes/platelets, dendritic cells), and lymphoid lineages (T- cells, B-cells, NK-cells). The definition of those cells has changed in the last two decades. These tissues contain cells with long-term and short-term regeneration capacities and committed multipotent, oligopotent, and unipotent progenitors. They constitute 1:10.000 of cells in myeloid tissue.
6. Lineage bias	F. The cells of the immune system that are involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist, and several types (including monocytes and neutrophils) are phagocytic. All leukocytes are produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as a hematopoietic stem cell. They live for about three to four days in the average human body. Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the blood and lymphatic system.

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IMPORTANT!!

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STRUCTURE

Introduction to the course

To be done in class.

Vocabulary

Cell structure
Matching definitions

Reading

Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system.

Comprehension

Vocabulary
True/False

COURSEBOOK

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READING

Fasting and stem cells

Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system.

June 5, 2014
Science Daily.com

In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage—a major side effect of chemotherapy—but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.

In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial, long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then "flipped a regenerative switch": changing the signaling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems, the research showed.

The study has major implications for healthier aging, in which immune system decline contributes to increased susceptibility to disease as we age. By outlining how prolonged fasting cycles—periods of no food for two to four days at a time over the course of six months—kill older and damaged immune cells and generate new ones, the research also has implications for chemotherapy tolerance and for those with a wide range of immune system deficiencies, including autoimmunity disorders.

"We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system," said corresponding author Valter Longo, the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the USC Davis School of Gerontology, and director of the USC Longevity Institute.

"When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged," Longo said. "What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?"

Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose, fat and ketones, but also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells. Longo likens the effect to lightening a plane of excess cargo.

During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells. In particular, prolonged fasting reduced the enzyme PKA, an effect previously discovered by the Longo team to extend longevity in simple organisms and which has been linked in other research to the regulation of stem cell self- renewal and pluripotency—that is, the potential for one cell to develop into many different cell types. Prolonged fasting also lowered levels of IGF-1, a growth-factor hormone that Longo and others have linked to aging, tumor progression and cancer risk.

"PKA is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for these stem cells to switch into regenerative mode. It gives the 'okay' for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system," explained Longo, noting the potential of clinical applications that mimic the effects of prolonged fasting to rejuvenate the immune system. "And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting. Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system."

Prolonged fasting also protected against toxicity in a pilot clinical trial in which a small group of patients fasted for a 72-hour period prior to chemotherapy, extending Longo's influential past research: "While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy," said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. "More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician."

"We are investigating the possibility that these effects are applicable to many different systems and organs, not just the immune system," said Longo, whose lab is in the process of conducting further research on controlled dietary interventions and stem cell regeneration in both animal and clinical studies.

Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Southern California. The original article was written by Suzanne Wu. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
Chia-Wei Cheng, Gregor B. Adams, Laura Perin, Min Wei, Xiaoying Zhou, Ben S. Lam, Stefano Da Sacco, Mario Mirisola, David I. Quinn, Tanya B. Dorff, John J. Kopchick, Valter D. Longo. Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression. Cell Stem Cell, 2014; 14 (6): 810 DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2014.04.014

Fasting and stem cells

Credit: Slim land

VOCABULARY

Pair the words printed in bold in the text with the following definitions

Words in the text	Definitions	Solution
	An unintended consequence of a drug therapy; usually not beneficial.	Check
	Important, having or exerting influence.	Check
	Injury or harm; the condition or measure of something not being intact.	Check
	Of, or relating to any habitual or exceptional intake or consumption of food and drink.	Check
	The consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished.	Check
	To abstain from food, or eat very little, especially for religious or medical reasons	Check
	To be very hungry	Check
	To cause, bring about, lead to.	Check
	To compare; to state that (something) is like (something else).	Check
	To initiate something, to spark a response.	Check
	To reduce the degree, intensity, strength, etc., of something.	Check
	To sketch, to summarise.	Check