The Diseased Cell  
University of Colorado, Boulder
MCDB 4444

© 1999-2001 M.W. Klymkowsky
INSTRUCTOR: Mike Klymkowsky|
Next offered - Fall 2004 by Gretchen Stein

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Schedule:
The Cell - its history and a review of terms
Where diseases come from 
Diseases of intrinsic factors
Superoxide dismutase & neurogenerative disease
Hypersensitivity, allergy and autoimmunity:  Grave's disease & Hasimoto's thyroiditis
Pregnancy,  immunity, cancer
Cancer 2 | Cancer 3
Diseases of protein folding/degradation
Diseases of protein processing: Alzheimer's disease
Diseases of intracellular targeting and evolution
Diseases of intracellular targeting
Diseases of DNA replication : Triplet repeat diseases
Cytoskeletal diseases part 1 | part 2
Student presentations
Factor V Leiden Disorder
HIV/AIDS/CD4
Thalassemia
Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency
Obesity
Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus
Placebo Effects
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Infantile Krabbe Disease
Neurofibromatosis, type I
Folate deficiency
Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Influenza & oxidative stress
Hodgkin's Lymphoma
TB & drug resistance
Cystic Fibrosis
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Grave's Disease & Hyperthyroidism
Bloom's syndrome
Type II Diabetes 
Von-Hippel-Lindau Syndrome
Immune system and wound healing.
Type II Diabetes 
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Familial Combined Hyperlipidaemia
Degenerative Disc Disease

Course Description:  The class will explore the cellular basis of disease and healing.  Diseases arising from defects in intracellular targeting, cytoskeletal function, intracellular signaling, genomic instability, gene regulation, cell proliferation and cell death will be discussed.  The course involves student driven literature/web research, organized classroom presentations and discussion, and a final research paper.

 

Prerequisites:MCDB 2150 (Genetics), MCDB 3100 (Cell Biology)or MCDB 3500 (Molecular Biology).


Books:  Although there is no perfect book for what we will be covering, I strongly suggest that you buy Mechanisms of Disease by Tomlinson et al (1997) as a good background references. It may take a few weeks to arrive, however.  (Here is a link to other "on-line" bookstores that you could check as well).  You may want to have your old Cell Biology/Molecular Biology textbook to refresh yourself on specific ideas when necessary.   Access to Basic Histology and Pathology texts could be helpful in some cases, although I do not think that these are really necessary (and they are somewhat pricey).

Organization:  The first half (roughly) of the course will be focussed on lectures and class room discussion of selected papers.  In the second half, each student will pick a disease, research its symptoms, molecular causes, genetic modifiers, and consider various approaches to prevention/cure and their possible complications. Each student will be expected to present their work in the classroom (roughly 20-25 min. presentation) and then prepare a research paper (roughly 20 pages in length) summarizing their work.  As an alterantive, the final project can be a web site (that includes the material that would have been in a paper).

During the after the second week, students will submit a short discription of their proposed topic for approval and discussion.  The goal is to pick a disease with more than one or two references related to it.

Grading:  There will be a midterm exam on the first part of the course (lecture/discussions).
It will be worth 30% of your grade.  The other 60% will be calculated based on classroom discussion (10%), oral research presentation (20%) and final research proposal (30%).  I expect the course to be challenging, and getting an A to be a measuring of real mastery of the material.  Although I reserve the right to change my mind, I expect an A to be 85% or higher, a B to be 70% or higher, a C to be 50% or higher.  I hope not to see any grades below a C.


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last modified - 12 march 2001