Protein Conformation Diseases

Catalog description

Protein misfolding and aggregation has been associated with over 40 human diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinsons disease, amytrophic lateral sclerosis, prion diseases, alpha (1)-antitrypsin deficiency, inclusion body myopathy, and systemic amyloidoses. This course will include lectures, directed readings and student presentations to cover seminal and current papers on the cell biology of protein conformational diseases including topics such as protein folding and misfolding, protein degradation pathways, effects of protein aggregation on cell function, model systems to study protein aggregation and novel approaches to prevent protein aggregation. Target audience is primarily 1st year CAMB, other BGS graduate students, or students interested in acquiring a cell biological perspective on the topic. MD/PhDs and Postdoc are welcome. MS and undergraduate students must obtain permission from course directors. Class size is limited to 14 students.