Course

Unit 1

Cellular basis of life: Universal features of cells and how these features separate the living world from non-living world, Cells and laws of thermodynamics; Cell membrane: Membrane structure and how it supported origin of life, Role of membrane asymmetry in cellular functions, Membrane proteins and how they support cellular diversity, Transport of small molecules across the membranes and electrical properties of membranes, Types of membrane transport and examples of molecular mechanisms involved in transport;

Unit 2

Internal organization of cells: Intracellular compartments and protein sorting: Compartmentalization of cells, Transport of proteins between intracellular compartments, Molecular mechanisms underlying protein sorting and transport across intracellular compartments, Glycosylation and its significance; Intracellular membrane traffic: Intracellular vesicular transport and underlying molecular mechanisms, Maintenance of compartmental diversity, Molecular mechanisms underlying specificity of molecular transport, Molecular mechanisms underlying transport into the cell from the plasma membrane and transport from trans-golgi network to cell exterior;

Unit 3

Communication between cells and the exterior: Cell signaling: General principles governing cell signaling, Types of cell communication, Negative feedback, Positive feedback, Signaling through GPCRs and enzyme-coupled surface receptors; Cytoskeleton: Types of cytoskeletal filaments, Molecular mechanisms involved in self-assembly and dynamic structure of cytoskeletal filaments, Polymerization and depolymerization of cytoskeletal filaments coupled to cellular functions, Molecular motors and their significance in intracellular transport, Cytoskeleton in cell division;

Unit 4

Cellular reproduction, the basis of sustenance of life on earth: Cell cycle: Role of templated polymerization of DNA in cellular reproduction and sustenance of life, Cell cycle control system in each phase of cell cycle, Regulation of cell cycle control system in different phases of cell cycle, Molecular mechanisms underlying cell cycle regulation, Control of cell growth; Apoptosis: Different types of cell death, Molecular pathways underlying cell death, Biological significance of cell death; Cancer from a cells perspective: Cancer as a microevolutionary process resulting from failure of cellular surveillance system;

Unit 5

Cells in their social context: Contacts between cell to cell and cells to extracellular matrix: Cell adhesions, Extracellular matrix, Types of junctions between cells and cells and matrix, Role of junctions in tissue formation and functions of organs;

Unit 6

How cells ensure continuity of life as well as genetic diversity on earth: Germ cells and sexual reproduction: Germ cells as the cells equipped to transfer genetic information between generations, Sexual reproduction as a cellular process ensuring genetic diversity at the organismal levels

Unit 7

Cells during development: Developmental dynamics of cells: How cells undergo commitment, specification and lineage diversification during development, Contribution of cells in pattern formation, Developmental biology of cells from the perspective of diseases and tissue maintenance;

Pre-requisites: Basic level biology

Total number of classes: 45

COURSE OUTCOMES:

After completion of course, student would be able:

• To comprehend cell as the basic unit of life by studying the universal features of cells that distinguish the living and nonliving
• To understand the internal organization of cells, molecular bases of membrane transport, intracellular membrane traffic, cell communication, cytoskeleton and cell death
• To perceive about a cell in its social context by studying cell cell adhesions and cell matrix associations
• To understand cancer as a microevolutionary process from a cellular perspective
• To appreciate the ability of cells to reproduce and sustain genetic diversity on earth
• To understand how cells undergo dynamic changes during development to attain shape and form

Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K and Walter P, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Fifth and Sixth Editions, Garland Publishing Inc. 2008.

Gerald Karp, Cell and Molecular Biology, Fifth Edition, John Wiley, 2008.