2010-2011 academic year
Cellular Biology II (20419)
Qualification/course: bachelor's degree in Human Biology
Year: third
Term: first
Number of ECTS credits: 8 credits
Student commitment: 200 hours
Teaching language or languages: Catalan and Spanish
Teaching staff: Pura Muñoz Cánoves, Eusebio Perdiguero, Susana Aguilar, Gabriel Gil, Francesc Posas, Juan Valcárcel and Isabelle Vernos
1. Subject presentation
The subject Cell Biology is a basic training subject in the bachelor's degree course in Human Biology, consisting of 8 ECTS credits. It is taught in the first quarter of the first year of the degree course. Those responsible for teaching are the lecturers Pura Muñoz Cánoves, who is the coordinator; Eusebio Perdiguero, Susana Aguilar, Gabriel Gil, Francesc Posas, Juan Valcárcel and Isabelle Vernos.
2. Competences to be acquired
During the teaching process, students should obtain the competences required by the educational authorities and stipulated in the degree syllabus, which are as follows:
a) Familiarisation with the general mechanisms of signal transduction.
b) Identification of the molecular bases of intracellular transport, the dynamic of membranes and cell movement, and the transmission mechanisms of the signals involved.
c) Identification of the molecular bases of the cell proliferation, differentiation and regeneration processes.
d) Development of critical reasoning and problem-solvinig skills related to cell molecular biology.
Teaching within the subject has the following aims:
General objectives
a) To integrate the knowledge acquired on the previous subjects on the Biology degree course and to study the organisation and workings of eukaryotic cells in depth.
b) To integrate the knowledge of various subcellular and macromolecular structures to understand the most important physiological processes at cell level.
c) To learn about some of the main breakthroughs in cell and molecular biology by means of direct analysis of the experiments that have been fundamental in achieving them.
d) To learn about some of the most important advanced techniques necessary for the study of cells at molecular level.
e) To integrate knowledge at a practical level by means of solving experimental problems.
Specific objectives
The specific objectives for each subject and each practical session will be available to students in the Aula Global during the learning process. These objectives will be the subject of assessment of the students' academic performance.
3. Contents
Syllabus to be taught in lectures
Subject 1
Subject presentation. Objectives.
MODULE I. EXTRACELLULAR SIGNAL TRANSMISSION MECHANISMS
Subject 2
Extracellular signal transmission mechanisms. Introduction. General concepts. Structure of the main types of membrane receptors. Concept and types of second messengers.
Subject 3
Receptors with tyrosine kinase activity. Receptors of growth factors and neurotrophins. The insulin receptor. Insulin response signal transmission mechanisms. Concept of coupling proteins.
Subject 4
MAP kinase signalling pathways. Receptors. Structure, workings and activation mechanisms of kinase modules. Subcellular location of MAP kinases. Gene regulation. MAP kinase pathways in response to mitogens and stress.
Subject 5
Serine kinase type receptors: the TGF beta receptor model. SMAD proteins.
Subject 6
Nuclear receptors. Ligands. Generic structure of nuclear receptors. DNA linking sequences. Interactions between receptors.
Subject 7
Extracellular matrix protein receptors. Integrins. Focal adhesions and associated proteins.
Subject 8
Receptors involved in cell-cell contacts. Structure of adherens junction. E-cadherin and associated proteins. Beta-catenin as a transcriptional coactivator.
MODULE II. REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION
Subject 9
Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes. Coding and noncoding DNA. organisation. Recombination. Structure of chromosomes. Mitochondrial DNA.
Subject 10
Transcriptional regulation. Regulating factors. Control of the beginning of transcription.
Subject 11
mRNA processing and transport. Other post-transcriptional regulation mechanisms. Regulation of translation. tRNA and rRNA processing. (2 hours) J. Valcárcel
Subject 12
Regulation of protein stability in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. (1 hour) J. Valcárcel
MODULE III. REGULATION OF CELLULAR PROLIFERATION AND DIFFERENTIATION
Subject 13
Control of cell proliferation and differentiation during development, adult life and pathological situations.
Subject 14
Eukaryotic cell proliferation (I): regulation of G1/S transition: seeds as a model. Cyclins, CDKs, CDKIs and their substrates. Regulation of cyclin-CDK complex activity. Regulation of G1/S transition.
Subject 15
Eukaryotic cell proliferation (II): mitosis and quality controls: G2/M transition and leaving the cell cycle. Cell cycle checkpoints, p53 and its functions. DNA repair and diseases due to faults therein.
Subject 16
Time in organisms: Senescence and ageing. Telomeres and telomerase.
Subject 17
Apoptosis and anoikis: apoptosis and necrosis. Molecular mechanisms in apoptosis. Anoikis and its physiological importance.
MODULE IV. CELLULAR DIFFERENTIATION MODELLING SYSTEMS. STEM CELLS
Subject 18
Cellular differentiation. Concept. Differentiation markers. Cell and tissue homeostasis. (1 hour)
Subject 19
Molecular mechanisms involved in differentiation. The muscular model.
Subject 20
Transdifferentiation. Differentiated phenotypic plasticit. Therapeutic implications.
Subject 21
Stem cells. ES cells. Stem cells in adult tissues: identification and properties. The stem cell niche.
Subject 22
Stem cells and therapeutic implications. Cell therapy.
Subject 23
Stem cells and cancer. (1 hour) Eusebio Perdiguero
Subject 24
Reprogramming of somatic cells, nuclear transfer (SCNT), induced pluripotent stem cells, (iPS).
MODULE V. INTRACELLULAR TRANSPORT AND MEMBRANE DYNAMICS
Subject 25
Introduction to membrane dynamics, synthesis and degradation. Membrane microdomains: rafts and caveolae. Autophagy.
Subject 26
Posttranslational modifications of proteins in the secretory pathway. Glycosylation. Proteolysis.
Subject 27
Intracellular membrane transport. Vesicular transport Golgi complex function models. Endocytosis mechanisms and regulation. Endosomes. Membrane protein recycling. Role in pathological situations.
Subject 28
Exocytosis mechanisms and regulation. Cellular polarity: generation and maintenance mechanisms. Protein classification. Transcytosis.
Subject 29
Movement within the cell. Molecular motors. Myosins. Kinesins. Dynein.
MODULE VI. THE FORM AND MOVEMENT OF CELLS
Subject 30
Structure of the main parts of the cytoskeleton. Reminder.
Subject 31
Role of the cytoskeleton in maintaining the cell's form. Forms of actin organisation. Actin associated proteins.
Subject 32
Role of small proteins with GTPase activity in control of cellular shape and motility. Filopodia and lamellipodia. Regulation of cellular movement. Integration of membrane signals in the cytoskeleton activity. Role of cellular motility in the Development and remodelling of tissues.
Subject 33
The cell and the extracellular matrix in the development and remodelling of tissues and pathological situations.
PROBLEM DISCUSSION MODULE
Five two-hour sessions. The problems are distributed beforehand, corrected and then discussed in groups for sixteen students.
Seminar lectures
Two seminars take place with content updated by the research groups involved on the course.
Practical sessions
The experimental practical activities are divided into two areas:
1. Muscle proliferation and differentiation. The objective of this practical session is to highlight muscular differentiation and examine how interference in various transfer pathways can affect the capacity for cell proliferation and differentiation. The results of this practical session will be used as experimental material to produce the research article.
2. Cellular senescence. The objective is to use a simple experimental model to observe the structural changes associated with senescence.
The reading list necessary to prepare for the practical sessions will be provided with the practical session notebook.
4. Assessment
The activity is assessed solely on the basis of specific objectives.
a) Assessment methods
Assessment takes place by means of multiple choice tests (5 alternatives, 1 correct answer, correct answers due to chance discarded), true or false tests (correct answers due to chance discarded) and essay tests, mostly with short answers with objective correction criteria. The exercises will be graded after the problem sessions and seminars. A research project associated with one of the practical sessions will be undertaken, in which a complet article will be written based on the data obtained.
b) Type and number of assessments
There will be two types of assessment: formative and accreditative.
1. Formative evaluation will take place over the academic year (with a small positive impact on the final mark if passed). These evaluations will consist of an examination with multiple choice and essay tests on the subject taught.
2. A continuous evaluation will take place during the the course with exercises consisting of a small number of true or false or short answer questions on research articles from each bloc in the theoretical part. The result of these evaluations will be cumulative and will have the agreed impact on the final mark.
3. The various teaching activities will be evaluated during the course: practical sessions, problems and seminars.
4. Students will produce a research project consisting of writing a complete article with the data obtained during one of the practical sessions.
5. At the end of the teaching process, a final evaluation of the theory will take place, consisisting of a multiple choice test with questions on all the subjects covered and an essay test with short questions. There will also be a multiple choice test on the planned objectives in the practical sessions.
c) Impact of the various types of assessment on the final accreditative mark
Final assessment:
MCT: 3 points
Essay: 3.5 points
Practical test: 0.5 points
Assessment during the course:
Article: 1 point
Continuous: 0.7 points
Practical sessions: 0.5 points
Problems: 0.5 points
Self-access learning: 0.3 points
Passing the formative evaluation carried out during the course will lead to an improvement in the final accreditative mark (maximum 0.5 points).
d) Pass criteria and qualitative grades
Students must participate in the programmed activities and obtain a mark of at least 3.5 of the 7 possible in the multiple choice tests (MCT), essays and practical sessions.
Passing 70% of the objectives will lead to a Good mark, and passing 90% of the objectives will lead to an Excellent mark.
5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
The basic books for the subject are:
ALBERTS, B. et al. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 5th ed. New York: Garland, 2008.
LODISH, H. et al. Molecular Cell Biology. 6th ed. New York: W.H. Freeman and company, 2007.
COOPER, G. M.; HAUSMAN, R. E. The Cell. A molecular approach. Washington D.C. and Sunderland, MA: ASM Press and Sinauer Associates, 2006.
A complementary book which includes a collection of classic articles on cellular biology is:
GALL, J. G.; McINTOSH, J. R. Landmark papers in cell biology. Cold Spring Harbor and Bethesda: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press and American Society for Cell Biology, 2001.
Other books:
LOW, W. Stem cells and regenerative medicine. World Scientific Publishing, 2008.
Essentials of stem cell biology. Academic Press, 2006.
Some subjects may require the use of complementary bibliography, especially some review articles, depnding on the specific bibliography provided for each subject. In general, these include:
Trends in Cell Biology
Trends in Biochemical Sciences
Current Opinion in Cell Biology
Current Opinion in Genetics and Development
Nature Reviews Molecular and Cellular Biology
6. Methodology
Various teaching activities are scheduled during the course that the student must undertake as a requirement for passing the subject. Attendance at lectures will nonetheless be monitored. There will be a thorough attendance check in the other activities.
The following activities are planned for the teaching process:
a) Lectures
Although the lecturers will discuss the content in lectures, students' participation will be encouraged.
After each classroom session, students will have written material available in the virtual classroom on the items covered and the specific objectives of each topic.
Most of the objectives should be achieved during the time scheduled for the timetabled face-to-face activities. As well as the information provided by the lecturer, class time will also include group discussion, the scheduled evaluations and discussion of results.
b) Seminars
Two seminars for groups of 30 students will take place, for which students will have to prepare the subjects to be discussed in advance. The content of the seminars is subject to evaluation.
c) Research project
The quality, clarity and presentation of the research article produced by each group of students will be assessed with the content of the first practical session.
d) Practical sessions
Two practical sessions will take place during the term. At the end of each practical segment, students must complete a control sheet, which will be assessed. The practical script must be filled in and will be assessed. During the term examination period, there will also be an assessment of the objectives anticipated for these sessions.
e) Asessment of learning
The planned assessments (formative, continuous evaluation, practical sessions, etc.) will take place during the course, within the scheduled timetable.
7. Programme of activities
The programme of activities in the subject is included in the Faculty's official timetable.