This advanced cell signaling module covers the biochemical mechanisms of cellular signalling processing and it is designed for undergraduate students who have a good knowledge of basic biochemistry and cell biology. The theory component is aligned to the practical component for applied cell culture and signalling methodology using human cells
Lecture content
1. Basic Biochemistry of signal transduction
2. Different pathways of signal transmission between cells: Intracellular and intercellular response
3. Signal transmission between molecules: Interaction domains: Protein modules, intramolecular interactions, docking domains, adaptor and scaffold proteins
4. Transciptional regulation in cell signalling and nuclear receptors
5. Cell surface receptors –G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), Ligand gated channel and enzyme coupled receptors (Serine/Threonine kinase, thyrosine kinase (RTK) and Phosphatase-coupled receptors)
6. Signal transduction of Ras super family of small monomeric G-proteins
7. Signalling of Mitogen-activated Protein kinase and Nuclear factor kB
8. Insulin signalling through receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK)
9. Catecholamine signalling through adrenergic receptors (GPCR)
10. Regulation of the Cell cycle and DNA damage response (DDR) with implications for Cancer and development of therapeutics
11. Apoptotic signalling (Intrinsic mitochondrial pathway and extrinsic death-receptor induced apoptotic pathway
12. Signalling pathways in animal development from proteolysis of latent gene regulatory proteins- Notch-Delta signalling, Wnt-beta-catenin signalling and Hedgehog-iHog and patched (smoothened) signalling
13. Cell signalling molecules as therapeutic targets for drug development
Practical content
1. Cell culture methods and applications with different mammalian cell types
2. Application of a high throughput cytotoxicity screening assay with the production of IC50 concentrations of test therapeutic drugs
3. Application of a high-throughput luminescence/bioluminescence-based cell assay for detecting components of specific signalling pathways (eg. cAMP, cGMP, Calcium) or routine cell culture laboratory practices (eg. Mycoplasma detection)
4. Application of fluorescence microscopy to determine drug-induced morphological changes to cells and their organelles
4. Flow cytometric data acquisition and analysis for cellular assays (eg. γH2AX, annexin and PI staining protocols)
Direct contact hours will be divided between lectures, tutorials, practical's and include slots for presentation. Visual aids such as animations and videos will be incorporated into the theoretical content to provide a further in-depth understanding of the signaling cascades.
Self-directed contact hours will partially be used to prepare a formal written assignment on cell signalling pathway with a powerpoint presentation. Data acquisition, interpretation, critical analysis will be built in to the practical CA.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 60 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 40 |