Cell and Molecular Biology

Paper Code: 
24BTE122
Credits: 
03
Contact Hours: 
45
Objective: 

The objectives of this course are to sensitize the students to the fact that as we go down the scale of magnitude from cells to organelles to molecules, the understanding of various biological processes becomes deeper and inclusive.

 

Course Outcomes: 

Course Outcomes (COs):

Course

 Course Outcomes

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies

Course Code

Course Title

24BTE122

Cell and Molecular Biology

(Theory)

CO7: Explain universal features of cells and elaborate the fundamental knowledge about the cell organelles

CO8: Compare and contrast the mechanisms of bacterial and eukaryotic DNA replication, correlate gene regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and analyze translation mechanism in prokaryotes and eukaryotes

CO 9: Evaluate cell cycle regulation and understand inter and intracellular interactions

CO10: Elaborate cellular transport and mechanism of trafficking and explain techniques in cytology

CO11: Gain detailed knowledge of Cell transformation and cancer prognosis

CO12: Contribute effectively in course-specific interaction

 

 

Approach in teaching:

Interactive Lectures,

Demonstrations, Power point presentations

 

Learning activities for the students: Discussion,

Tutorials,

Assignments

Reading journals

Class test, Semester end examinations, Quiz, Solving problems in tutorials, Assignments, Presentation, Individual and group projects

 

6.00
Unit I: 
Dynamic organization of cell

Universal features of cells; cell chemistry and biosynthesis: chemical organization of cells; internal organization of the cell - cell membranes: structure of cell membranes and concepts related to compartmentalization in eukaryotic cells; intracellular organelles: endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, lysosomes and peroxisomes, ribosomes, cellular cytoskeleton, mitochondria, chloroplasts and cell energetics; nuclear compartment: nucleus, nucleolus and chromosomes.

 

14.00
Unit II: 
Gene to protein

Chromatin organization - histone and DNA interactome: structure and assembly of eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA polymerases, DNA-replication, repair and recombination; chromatin control: gene transcription and silencing by chromatin Writers, Readers and Erasers. Transcriptional control: Structure and assembly of eukaryotic and prokaryotic RNA Polymerases, promoters and enhancers, transcription factors as activators and repressors, transcriptional initiation, elongation and termination; post-transcriptional control: splicing and addition of cap and tail, mRNA flow through nuclear envelope into cytoplasm, breakdown of selective and specific mRNAs through interference by small non-coding RNAs (miRNAs and siRNAs)

Protein translation machinery, ribosomes-composition and assembly; universal genetic codes, degeneracy of codons, Wobble hypothesis; Isoaccepting tRNA; mechanism of initiation, elongation and termination; co- and post-translational modifications, mitochondrial genetic code translation product cleavage, modification and activation.

8.00
Unit III: 
Cell cycle and cellular process

Cell cycle and its regulation; cell division: mitosis, meiosis and cytokinesis; cell differentiation: stem cells, their differentiation into different cell types and organization into specialized tissues; cell-ECM and cell-cell interactions; cell receptors and transmembrane signaling; cell motility and migration; cell death: different modes of cell death and their regulation.

 

8.00
Unit IV: 
Transport across membranes

Molecular mechanisms of membrane transport, nuclear transport, transport across mitochondria and chloroplasts; intracellular vesicular trafficking from endoplasmic reticulum through Golgi apparatus to lysosomes/cell exterior.

 

 

8.00
Unit V: 
Cell transformation and cancer prognosis

Mutations, proto-oncogenes, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, physical, chemical and biological mutagens; intra-genic and inter-genic suppression, Proto-oncogenes, Oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, viral oncogenes, oncogenes as transcriptional activators, interaction of cancer cells with normal cells, apoptosis, therapeutic interventions of uncontrolled cell growth.

 

ESSENTIAL READINGS: 
  • Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K., & Walter, P. (2014). Molecular Biology of the Cell (6th Ed.). New York: Garland Science.
  • Watson, Baker, Bell, Gann, Levin & Losick. (2017). Molecular Biology of the Gene (7th Ed):  Pearson Education.
  • Darnell, H., Lodish, H., & Baltimore, D. (2021). Molecular Cell Biology (9th Ed). Macmillan learning.
  • Lewin, B. (2013). Gene XI Oxford University Press U.K.

 

REFERENCES: 
  • Lodish, H. F. (2016). Molecular Cell Biology (9th Ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman.
  • Krebs, J. E., Lewin, B., Kilpatrick, S. T., & Goldstein, E. S. (2014). Lewin's Genes XI. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
  • Cooper, G. M., & Hausman, R. E. (2013). The Cell: a Molecular Approach (6th Ed.). Washington: ASM; Sunderland.
  • Hardin, J., Bertoni, G., Kleinsmith, L. J., & Becker, W. M. (2012). Becker's World of the Cell. Boston (8th Ed.). Benjamin Cummings.
  • Watson, J. D. (2008). Molecular Biology of the Gene (5th Ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
Academic Year: 
2024-2025
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