Cell Biology and Cellular Signalling Lab

This course is an introduction to signal transduction pathways in mammalian cells, more specifically growth factor signaling and the response of cells upon activation of this signaling. Clearly these mechanisms are important in both (cellular) physiology and pathology and are for instance studied to understand the mechanisms of uncontrolled cell growth (cancer). For this course cultured eukaryotic cells are used as a model system. Molecular biology techniques such as Gel electrophoresis (PAGE), Western blotting, Immuno-precipitation, and Immuno-fluorescence are used to investigate signal transduction pathways. The theory of the techniques used in this course is addressed and a lot of attention is given to designing the experimental set-up, performing the experiments and analyzing the data. At the end of the course students make a lab report.