ENDOCRINOLOGY
(BIO 448, Fall 2006, Registration # 088720)
Tentative—Revised 05/29/2006

Place/Time: T & Th 9:30-10:50 a.m.
209 Norton Hall

Instructor: Dr. Christopher A. Loretz - Office Hours: T & Th 8:30-9:30 a.m.

Office: 647 Hochstetter Hall and by appointment

Office Phone: 645-2363 x182

e-mail: loretz@buffalo.edu

Course Aim: BIO 448 is an introduction to the biology of chemical mediation at the organismal, cellular and molecular levels. Whereas emphasis will be on the regulation of physiological and other processes in vertebrates (especially mammals), lectures and readings are designed to present principles and concepts that are applicable to other taxonomic groups as well. Students successfully completing this course will:

• know the structures and biosynthetic pathways of major families of chemical messengers,
• recognize the diversity of hormone receptor systems and transduction pathways,
• be familiar with tools and techniques used in the study of hormones and their receptors,
• acquire a systems-based working knowledge of important hormonallyregulated physiological processes, and
• appreciate current scholarly and popular issues in endocrinology.

Texts: Griffin & Ojeda (eds.), Textbook of Endocrine Physiology, 5th edition, 2004
Randall, Burggren and French, Eckert Animal Physiology, 5th edition, 2002 (or
an equivalent, current, comprehensive physiology text that you already own)

Additional (optional) resource books available to you in the library:
Norris, Vertebrate Endocrinology, 3rd edition, 1997
Hadley, Endocrinology, 5th edition, 2000
Norman & Litwack, Hormones, 2nd edition, 1997

Grading: As per the following scheme:

Regular attendance is expected, and all assignments must be completed in order to pass this course. Incomplete “I” grades will be assigned in accordance with University policy. Academic honesty is important, and each students is expected to do and submit their own work. The University has an academic integrity policy that will be followed; the policy is published in the Undergraduate catalog and students are asked to review this policy if they are not already familiar with it.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory at all lectures and examinations. Any student absent without notice from an exam and without a physician’s written note of excuse will receive a zero for the exam with no opportunity for a make-up exam. Bona fide medical excuses will allow students to sit for a make-up exam during the week of December 4-8. Students planning to be absent from an exam for other legitimate reasons (e.g., graduate or professional school interview) may arrange with the instructor in advance for an alternate time to take the exam. Each student will be graded carefully and fairly.

Participation: Class participation is encouraged throughout the semester and, especially, during presentations of methodologies and techniques involving mathematical expressions, interpretation of experimental data, and subjects not covered in the primary text readings. Leading questions will be posed when possible to facilitate classroom discussion.

Disability Services: The University’s Office of Disability Services is available to assist students with physical and learning disabilities. Classroom accommodations will be made for students on the advice and guidance of the Office of Disability Services. Students should register with the Office as needed for their individual situations.

Term Project

The term project provides each student independently with the opportunity to explore and to report on a significant discovery in endocrinology. Eligible topics include any of those in the field for which a Nobel Prize has been awarded. Listed below are the Prizes in the categories of Physiology and Medicine, and Chemistry; each recognizes a significant discovery through its practical or intellectual contribution to the biology of chemical mediation. For specific information about each of the awards, students may wish to visit the Nobel Prize Web site that is maintained by the Nobel Foundation. The URL is:

http://nobelprize.org/

Topics will be selected by lottery prior to the first exam. The final written report should be
an overview of the major discovery that earned the Prize, and it should be presented in the
appropriate historical context. The report (3 double -spaced typed pages maximum) is due on the
last day of class. Any sources may be used to research the topic; these may include the primary
literature, reviews, textbooks, and/or encyclopedic references. Regardless of the sources used, the
report should be informative with respect to the experimental science involved, and to the
relevance of the work to the field. Appropriate acknowledgment of bibliographic sources is
expected.

NOBEL PRIZES IN PHYSIOLOGY AND MEDICINE (ENDOCRINOLOGY):

2004 —RICHARD AXEL and LINDA B. BUCK for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system.

2000 —ARVID CARLSSON, PAUL GREENGARD and ERIC KANDEL for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system.

1998 —ROBERT F. FURCHGOTT, LOUIS J. IGNARRO and FERID MURAD for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.

1994 —ALFRED G. GILMAN and MARTIN RODBELL for their discovery of G-proteins and the role of these proteins in signal transduction in cells.

1986 —STANLEY COHEN and RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI for their discoveries of growth factors.

1982 —SUNE K. BERGSTR÷M, BENGT I. SAMUELSSON and SIR JOHN R. VANE for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances.

1977 —ROGER GUILLEMIN and ANDREW V. SCHALLY for their discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain, and ROSALYN YALOW for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones.

1971 —EARL W. JR. SUTHERLAND for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones.

1970 —SIR BERNARD KATZ, ULF VON EULER and JULIUS AXELROD for their discoveries concerning the humoral transmitters in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation.

1966 —CHARLES BRENTON HUGGINS for his discoveries concerning hormonal treatment of prostatic cancer.

1950 —EDWARD CALVIN KENDALL, TADEUS REICHSTEIN and PHILIP SHOWALTER HENCH for their discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects.

1947 —BERNARDO ALBERTO HOUSSAY for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar.

1936 —SIR HENRY HALLETT DALE and OTTO LOEWI for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses.

1923 —SIR FREDERICK GRANT BANTING and JOHN JAMES RICHARD MACLEOD for the discovery of insulin.

1909 —EMIL THEODOR KOCHER for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland.

1904 —IVAN PETROVICH PAVLOV in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged.

NOBEL PRIZES IN CHEMISTRY (ENDOCRINOLOGY):

1958 —FREDERICK SANGER for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin.

1955 —VINCENT DU VIGNEAUD for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone.

Lecture Schedule

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