Special Topics in Protein Chemistry. Structural Biology
Proteins adopt precise architectures in order to perform their task in the cell. Understanding how proteins fold into a specific 3D shape helps to decipher the complex mechanisms regulating protein function. This course will cover all aspects of the structure and function of proteins, the techniques used in structural biology and applications in basic and biomedical research. The structural biology component will comprise structure prediction and modeling, folding, and experimental methods including electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, x-ray crystallography and small-angle x-ray scattering. The biology component will include topics on enzyme kinetics and mechanisms, drug design, and cellular signaling pathways relevant to health and disease. Special case studies will be discussed to highlight the relationship between structure and function and to address the key role of structural biology for rational drug design. This course will provide basic understanding of structural biology methods and their applications to solve specific problems in biology.