BIO330/BIO525: Genes in cancer
Spring 2011

Instructor: Dr. Paul Cullen, pjcullen@buffalo.edu Office hours 10am-12noon Fridays.

This is a 1-credit course for undergraduates and a 2-credit course for graduate students. The undergraduate and graduate students attend 14, 50-minute weekly lectures over the spring semester (1-credit). For the graduate students each lecture is followed by a 50-minute discussion of the primary research literature (1-credit).

For undergraduates a prerequisite for this course is BIO 319

Class times
Undergraduates: Tuesdays, 9am-9.50am, 18th Jan to 2nd May, Rm 454 FRNCZK
Graduates: Tuesdays, 9am-10.50am, 18th Jan to 2nd May, Rm 454 FRNCZK

Course outline BIO330 (1credit)/BIO525 (1 credit of 2)
The aim of the course is to gain an understanding of how the study of aberrant protein function in cancer has helped us to gain insights into both their normal biological functions and role in disease. This will begin with an overview of our current understanding of the multistep events leading to cancer, hereditary predisposition and the two-hit hypothesis of pediatric cancers. The course will then focus on the classic examples of the major tumor suppressors and oncogenes that act through the genome, including.;
The role of the tumor suppressor p53 in the DNA damage response; The function of the Retinoblasoma tumor suppressor in the regulation of gene expression during the cell cycle; Viral and cellular oncogenes; The tumor suppressors and oncogenes of the Wnt signaling pathway and their role in driving cell proliferation. The mechanisms of gene regulation by the oncogenes c-myc and NFκB.

Assessment: Lectures 7 and 14 will be 45-minute short-answer exams that each contribute 50% of the final mark (undergraduates=100%) or 25% of the final mark (graduates=50%).

Course outline BIO525 (2 credits of 2)
The aim of the second part of the course (graduates only) is to discuss the primary literature. Each session will involve a paper presentation by a graduate student (20 minutes), followed by 30 minutes critical discussion of the paper by the group. The papers will be selected by the course coordinator to map onto the lecture program. Presentation papers will be distributed to the students by lottery.

Assessment: Marks will be given at 25% for the paper presentation and 25% for contribution to discussion during the course (=50%).