BMS 690 - Cell Biology of Tissue Development and Function

Course Website

Course Directors:
Doug Spicer - spiced@mmc.org
Lucy Liaw - liawl@mmc.org


BMS 690 - Special Topics in Biomedical Sciences
Spring 2011, 3 credits

Meeting time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:00am-9:15am
Location: MMCRI conference room 5, UMaine, Jackson Laboratory
First class date: Tuesday January 10, 2011

Description: This course addresses the cellular biology of tissue development in the context of receptor signaling, cell-cell interactions, and tissue function. Students are expected to have a strong understanding of basic cellular and molecular biology. The semester will start with several lectures focused on experimental strategies in molecular and cellular biology. We will then cover major receptor-mediated signaling pathways. The second half of the course will address how these pathways integrate to control tissue development and function.

Format: The course will be a combination of lectures and critique and discussion of primary research papers. There will also be a mid-term and final exam.

Grading: The combination of 5 paper critiques (40%) and 2 exams (30% each) will be evaluated for the final grade.

Paper critiques: Primary research papers will be assigned as indicated in the syllabus. Students are expected to critically read, understand, and be prepared to orally discuss the work. In addition, a 1-2 page written critique (guidelines will be given) for each assigned paper is due on the day of the paper discussion. Student participation in the discussion is an important part of the grade.

Faculty: This is a team-taught course that will be broadcast through the videoconferencing facilities between MMCRI, UMaine Orono, and the Jackson Laboratory.

Readings: Background readings for this course will be primarily recent review articles that will be posted. There is no required textbook for the course, but any of the texts listed below would be useful for studying.

Recommended background texts:
Cell Biology, Pollard and Earnshaw. Updated 1st Edition, 2004
Molecular Biology of the Cell, Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, Raff, Roberts, and Walter. 4th Edition, 2007
Molecular Cell Biology, Lodish, Berk, Zipursky, Matsudaira, Baltimore, and Darnell. 4th Edition, 2000

Other resources
There are two available online Biology courses that are freely available through iTunesU (part of the iTunes program). One is from MIT (with Bob Weinberg and Eric Lander teaching), the other is from UC Berkeley (Molecular and Cellular Biology 130). The MIT course is also available through the MIT website.