BISC 305, CELL PHYSIOLOGY
SPRING, 2000 COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GUIDELINES
GENERAL GOALS. This course will concentrate on dynamic processes within cells, between cells and between cells and their environment. The major areas that will be covered are: cell membranes, cell junctions and adhesion to the extracellular matrix, cytoskeleton and cell motility, signal transduction processes, protein trafficking and vesicular transport in cells. For each topic we will try to incorporate the most recent information from the primary research literature. An understanding of the dynamic nature of these processes will be a major goal. There will also be an emphasis on experimental approaches and findings. Finally, students will be asked to demonstrate critical analysis of research findings.
INSTRUCTOR. Gary Laverty, Associate Professor, 313 Wolf Hall, 831-8180 (laverty@brahms.udel.edu)
OFFICE HOURS. M,W, 9:30-11:00; M, 14:00-16:00 (or whenever I am in the office)
LECTURES. T,R 11:00-12:15, 205 Wolf Hall
COURSE WEBSITE: http://www.udel.edu/Biology/laverty/cells.html
LABORATORY. Section 10: T, 13:00-16:00; Section 11: R, 13:00-16:00 (043 MKL)
TEXT. Karp, Cell and Molecular Biology, Wiley, 2nd Ed. 1999
GRADES. Final grades will be based on a 500 point scale, as follows:
Exam I (in class) 100 points
Exam II (take home)# 100 points
Exam III (finals week) 100 points
Group work* 100 points
Lab quizzes (2 @ 50) 100 points
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TOTAL 500 points
# Take home exam will be given as a 1 week assignment, to be done on an individual basis *Group work will involve several student-centered (Problem-based learning) exercises. Points will be based on both instructor and peer evaluations of participation and on group-written summaries
CLASS SCHEDULE
DATES TOPICS CHAPTER/PAGES
Feb 8 Introduction 1 (1-30) (also review Chaps 2 & 3, as needed)
Feb. 10, 15 Biomembranes, composition, structure, fluidity 4 (122-150)
Feb. 17, 22 Membrane transporters and channels 4 (150-165)
Feb. 24, 29, Mar.2, 7, 9 Cell signaling 15(655-697)
March 14 Exam I (In Class)
Mar. 16, 21, 23 Cell surface, extracellular space, integrins 7(253-290)
adhesion molecules, cell junctions
March 28, 30 Spring Break
April 4, 6 ECM, adhesion, integrins (cont.) " " "
April 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, 27 Cytoskeleton and cell motility 9(344-411)
April 13-20 Exam II (Take Home)
May 2, 4, 9, Cell compartments, protein trafficking, 8 (292-342)
11, 16 endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, lysosomes, endocytosis
LABORATORY SCHEDULE
DATES
Unit 1 Feb. 22, 24 Light microscopy, introduction to "NIH Image" Feb 29, Mar 2 Phase contrast microscopy, comparison of mammalian and non-mammalian RBCs; cell volume regulation Mar. 7, 9 Flagellar regeneration in Chlamydomonas Mar. 14, 16 Fluorescenece microscopy of microtubules Mar. 21, 23 Fluorescence microscopy of microtubules (cont)
Unit 2 April 4, 6 Introduction to cell culture April 11, 13 Neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells April 18, 20 NO LABS April 25, 27 GFP expression studies in PC-12 cells May 2, 4 Primary culture of avian cardiocytes/gap junctions May , 9, 11 Electrophysiological studies on cultured renal epithelial monolayers