Biochemistry 2: Molecular Machines in Health and Disease

Course goals

The students will gain molecular understanding of:
•    how macromolecular machines work,
•    how they evolved and, 
•    how they can be manipulated 

 

Content

The following concepts will be covered in the course: 
•    The importance of macromolecular machines in health and disease
•    How molecular function arises from their structure
•    Mechanistic understanding of molecular machines
•    Molecular machines’ fidelity, selectivity and specificity
•    How did molecular machines evolve
•    Manipulating molecular machines for therapeutics 

The course will consist of three parts. Each part will focus on one family of molecular machines:
Part 1: molecular motors, including dynein, kinesin and mysoin. Demonstrating their function in transport, motility and contraction. 
Part 2: macromolecular synthesis, including polymerases and the ribosome. Demonstrating their function in transcription and translation. 
Part 3: macromolecular degradation, including the proteasome.