Details of CH4110 (Autumn 2019)
| Level: 4 | Type: Theory | Credits: 4.0 |
| Course Code | Course Name | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|
| CH4110 | Frontiers at the Chemistry-Biology Interface | Arabinda Chaudhuri |
| Preamble |
|---|
| To enhance knowledge breadth of our fresh doctoral and senior BS-MS students in the area of
emerging interdisciplinary sciences at the interface of chemistry and biology; and To hone critical thinking abilities of the participating doctoral and BS-MS students that will enable them to read current primary literature in the field with a critics eye (through discussion of recent milestone work at chemistry-biology interface with active participation of the students); |
| Syllabus |
|---|
| Important concepts for understanding frontier researches in chemical biology:
Recap of the cellular structure, molecular architectures of biological macromolecules & and lipids and the roles they play in cells; Cellular uptake mechanisms via endocytosis and other routes; Concept of Phage display library and its use by chemists; Chemistss contributions in imaging of cells (both in vitro and in vivo); Understanding the chemistry behind important biological assays including cell viability assay, various assays for measuring apoptosis of cells, various gel electrophoresis based assays, etc.; chemical basis of various protein purification techniques, etc. (10 lectures). RNA interference and how chemists are shaping the field Recap of nucleic acid chemistry; discovery of RNA interference and its medical applications, how nucleic acid chemists came at rescue; delivery issues; set-backs & future prospects. (5 lectures). Landmark contributions of chemists in the interdisciplinary field of Targeted Cancer Therapy What is cancer? Mechanisms of cancer cell proliferations; rational design of small molecule anticancer compounds; concepts of targeted cancer therapy; currently used chemical approaches for targeting potent cytotoxic drugs selectively to cancer cells/tissues; major accomplishments in the field; unmet challenges and future prospects. (5 lectures). Contributions by chemists in the fastest emerging field of cancer immunotherapy (Synthetic Immunology) Basic concepts of immunology and understanding our immune systems; roles of antigen presenting cells in our immune systems; the basic mechanisms of how cancers evade our immune system; check point inhibitors; contribution of chemists in the fastest growing field of cancer immunotherapy; the emerging field of synthetic immunology; designing small molecule immune modulators for use in cancer immunotherapy; success and set-backs, future prospects. (5 lectures). Contributions of chemists in the emerging field of Gene Therapy What is Gene Therapy; viral and non-viral vectors based gene therapies; landmark contributions of chemists in the field; major set-backs including cellular & systemic hurdles in the field; future prospects, discussion of few recently reported major contributions (6 lectures). Pharmacology for Chemists Chemical and biological bases of pharmacology, some important concepts in pharmacology including pharmacokinetics & pharmacodynamics; Drug metabolism and drug receptors, Principles of pharmacological assays, Concepts of blood brain barriers (BBB); landmark recent contributions from chemists in helping drugs to cross BBB; recent contributions from chemists on combating CNS diseases (5 lectures). |
| References |
|---|
| Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, Sixth Edition 2013 (By Nelson and Cox,);
Molecular Cell Biology, Sixth Edition 2008 (By Lodish, Berk, Kaiser, Krieger, Scott, Bretscher, Ploegh and Matsudaira) The biology of CANCER 2014 (By Robert A. Weinberg) Pharmacology for Chemists Second Edition, 2007 (By Joseph G. Cannon). |
Course Credit Options
| Sl. No. | Programme | Semester No | Course Choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IP | 1 | Not Allowed |
| 2 | IP | 3 | Elective |
| 3 | IP | 5 | Elective |
| 4 | MR | 1 | Not Allowed |
| 5 | MR | 3 | Not Allowed |
| 6 | MS | 7 | Elective |
| 7 | RS | 1 | Elective |
| 8 | RS | 2 | Elective |