BIOL 5027 1.5    

TOPICS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY I - GENE EXPRESSION

Course Description:

This core 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.  

Prerequisites: Undergraduate courses in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Course Directors:

J.C. McDermott

Office: 327C Farquharson

Telephone: 416-736-2100 ext. 30389

e-mail: jmcderm@yorku.ca

T. Kubiseski

Office: 307A Farquharson

Telephone: 416-736-2100 ext. 40519

e-mail: tkubises@yorku.ca

Evaluation:

Oral presentation(s)       40%

Critical review essay     40%

Class participation         20%

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