Course Description
This course covers the area in molecular biology called gene expression, including topics on chromatin remodelling, mechanisms of transcriptional activation/repression and activation of transcription factors by extracellular signals. Gene expression topics will focus primarily on transcription and its control. Chromatin remodelling will be discussed as it relates to differential transcription. Molecular mechanisms of transcriptional activation/repression will also be examined and will include topics on the basic transcriptional machinery, initiation versus elongation, transcription factors, adaptor proteins, and TAFs. Activation of transcription factors by extracellular signals will also be discussed and will include topics on the regulation of their activation and DNA-binding functions, their translocation and the formation of ternary complexes. Lectures given by the course director(s) will be followed by critical class discussions of recent papers. Students are expected at the end of the course to present and oral presentation and write a critical review on topics from the above. Not all topics will be discussed each time the course is offered. The core course will be offered as 3 hr lecture per week for 6 weeks.
Evaluation:
Oral presentation(s) 40%
Critical review essay 30%
Class participation 30%
The oral presentation will be 30-minutes in length followed by a class discussion. Students will also be expected to write a 3000-4000 word critical review essay on a topic of gene expression.
Bibliography:
All materials for this course will be provided by original research and review articles in the current literature.
Journals:
Science
Nature
Cell
Biochemisty
Genes and Development
The EMBO Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
Molecular and Cellular Biology
The Journal of Molecular Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Molecular Biology
Annual Review of Biochemistry
Annual Review of Genetics