Topics in Cell Biology

Cell biological pathways that define the basic metabolic processes of cells are currently understood to be responsible for cell aging and cell death; that is, the very processes that are essential for maintaining life—the breakdown and processing of food—are the pathways that eventually cause death. This understanding—that nutrient pathways are central in informing cellular decisions about life and death—recently led to the stunning experiment that showed that feeding mice large amounts of resveratrol, the ingredient in red wine thought to be responsible for the “French paradox,” could significantly extend the healthy lifespan of mice. What are these pathways? This course will explore these and related topics that are on the cutting edge of work in cell biology. The course will be conducted as a journal club; that is, students will be reading and making presentations from the primary literature on selected topics primarily centered on issues related to nutrient processing and cell senescence and aging. Topics covered will include: insulin receptor signaling, which functions to maintain levels of blood glucose, and how defects in those signaling pathways give rise to diabetes; other nutrient-sensing pathways in the cell; cell death, or apoptosis; oxygen-free radical production and its regulation; and fat metabolism. We will also be tying the mechanisms being studied at the cell level to issues related to the regulation of eating, obesity, aging, and other organismal-level functions.