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BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 403

Special Topics in Cell Biology

Summer 2007

Instructor: Kathleen Fitzpatrick	Office: B9233
Email: kathleef@sfu.ca	Phone: 778-782-5611

Course prerequisites: MBB 221 with a C- or better. It is also highly recommended that the student have an understanding of genetics. i.e. Bisc 202, with a grade of C- or better.

Course description: The course is lecture based with mandatory tutorials. Lectures will summarize main points of course content. Be prepared to read review papers as well for complete information. Tutorials will be for answering your questions, but will also include discussions of assigned research papers and worksheet/study questions.

Outline of Topics: The course will be divided into two main sections. The first will deal with cell cycle regulation with specific reference to cancer development and progression. Within this broad subject we will cover details of normal cell cycle regulation, checkpoints, chromosome replication and condensation, spindle formation, including microtubule dynamics, DNA damage detection and repair, apoptosis, regulation of tissue size, and perhaps cell migration, if there is enough time. We will also cover the steps in cancer progression, and some approaches to treatment.

The second section will cover nuclear substructure and organization, including centromeres and telomeres, with reference to diseases that arise when nuclear structures are disrupted. We will also discuss transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm, through nuclear pores. If time permits, we will spend the remaining lectures on cellular transport within the cytoplasm.

Textbook(s): Recommended Only: Alberts, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4^th ed (Garland Science) OR Lodish, Molecular Cell Biology, 5^th ed (Freeman). I will also post review papers on the course website. If you don’t have one of these texts, don’t buy one. I will have some put on hold in the library.

Mark distribution: Tutorial: 10%, Quizzes, biweekly: 10%, Midterm 1: 20%, Midterm 2 and Final: 30% each. Exams are not cumulative, but as you will find during the course, all of the material is strongly interrelated, so understanding earlier material is very important for learning later material.