3 credits
Fall 2025 Lecture Upper Division
This course is intended for both upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. It will cover major intracellular signaling pathways in eukaryotes and their roles in human disease, with an emphasis on cancer but also touching on other major modern diseases such as COVID-19. We will explore avenues being pursued to target signaling mechanisms for therapeutic benefit. Topics include G protein-coupled receptors, receptor tyrosine kinases, nuclear hormone receptors, protein kinases and phosphatases, mTOR, the Wnt/s-catenin pathway, cell cycle control, DNA damage checkpoint control, regulated proteolysis, and programmed cell death. The course will be taught from current primary literature using a textbook as a background resource. Students will learn how to read and interpret scientific data through regular lectures, extramural seminars, in-class presentations, and take-home assignments.
Learning Outcomes1Identify common molecular mechanisms in major signal transduction pathways.
2Understand methods commonly used to analyze signal transduction processes.
3Appreciate how protein domains within signaling proteins impart selectivity by building up signaling pathways via protein protein-interactions.
4Evaluate and critique data in the scientific literature or in lectures in the signal transduction/cell cycle fields.
5Exhibit improved oral and written communication skills in the area of signal transduction research.
Prerequisites
Restrictions
GPA by professor
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made by Purdue students.