Cell Biology (Biology 395)

CELL BIOLOGY (BIOLOGY 395)

Course Instructor: Dr. Tony Miller Office Hours: Tuesday 12:15-1:15 Room 216 JBBH Wednesday 2:15-3:15 863-2294 Friday 10:15-11:15 [email protected]

Laboratory Instructor: Mrs. Leslie Buckland-Nicks Room 342 JBBH 863- 3957 [email protected]

Textbook: Becker WM, Kleinsmith LJ, Hardin J, and Bertoni GP. 2009 The World of the Cell. 7th Edition. Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. The pages you should read will be given in the webnotes available before each lecture. You should start by reviewing the basic cell biology in Chapter 4 (Cells and Organelles). Much, but not all, of this material is a review of Biology 111 and other courses you have taken.

Lab. Manual: Purchase from the Main Office (JBBH).

Attendance: You are expected to attend all lectures and your labs unless you are ill, have important appointments, or are presented with family emergencies. After three unexplained absences, the Dean of Science will be notified (as is mandated by Section 3.8 of the Academic Calendar).

Marking Scheme: Laboratory Evaluation (details on p.1 of lab. manual) 30% Mid-Term Test (October 21st during lecture period) 20% Problem Sets (2)* 10% Final Exam 40%

* Please note that you must work on these problems by yourself. Please see the Academic Calendar (2009) page 14 section 3.8.2 subsection b(iv). “Some examples of cheating are b(iv): collaboration (i.e. working together) on an assignment which an instructor did not specify was to be completed collaboratively.”

WebNotes: I will be putting up substantial webnotes before each lecture. To access these notes, add /people/amiller to the address bar on the StFX home page. These webnotes cover much, but certainly not all, of the material you need to know and understand. I suggest that you make a copy of the webnotes and bring them to the lecture. During the lecture you can add whatever extra information you think is important.

LECTURE TOPICS

Introduction to Biology 395; What is an organelle? (They do not have to be membrane-bounded, or membrane-bound!) (1 lecture)

The importance of fluorescence microscopy in the study of cell biology. (2 lectures)

Techniques in electron microscopy that can relate function to structure. (1 lecture)

The nucleus: Much remains to be discovered about the nucleus, but much has been found out in recent years. Chromosome structure; arrangement of chromosomes at interphase; nuclear domains; snurps, speckles, Cajal bodies; nucleoli; replication factories; transcription domains; splicing domains; why humans need alternative splicing; transport across the nuclear envelope; teleomeres and aging; reformation of the nucleus after mitosis; regulation of gene activity. (10 lectures)

The mitochondrion: Mitchell and his sheep farm; a beautiful example of the relationship between structure and function in cell biology; watching the ATP-synthesizing turbine spin; isolating purified organelles; genetic diseases of mitochondria are complex because mitochondrial genetics is not strictly Mendelian, ragged red fibers of skeletal muscle and other mitochondrial diseases; apoptosis (programmed cell death). (4 lectures)

The amazing cytoskeleton: the construction materials; construction a geodesic dome; railroad tracks; cell motility; actin in the nucleus; astrocytes; podocytes; fibroblasts (4 lectures)

Cell motility: most of our cells have a cilium, actin-based motility of single cells; actin in muscles; microtubule-based motility of cells and organelles (4 lectures)

The membrane-bound microbodies: How peroxisomes were discovered; peroxisomal diseases; the biogenesis of peroxisomes and other microbodies. (2 lectures)

The SER: how to make rats have lots of it; diabetes mellitus; pharmacological relevance; sex hormones etc; autophagosome formation; other functions (2 lectures)

The RER/Golgi/etc system: protein quality control and cystic fibrosis; exocytosis; lysosomes and proteasomes (4 lectures)