Biol 443 - The Biology & Biochemistry of Proteins

The ultimate rationale behind all purposeful structures and behavior of living things is embodied in the sequence of residues of nascent polypeptide chains ... . In a very real sense it is at this level of organization that the secret of life (if there is one) is to be found. If we could not only determine these sequences but also pronounce the law by which they fold, then the secret of life would be found - the ultimate rationale discovered!

Jacques Monod
Recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine
Best known for his work on the Lac Operon

Course Description:  Proteins are the heart of living systems; they are the machinery of life. Throughout the course of evolution and the expansion of life, proteins have evolved into a universe of protein families, evolutionary-related proteins of similar structure and function that usually operate in a wide range of species. Understanding how this universe of protein families evolved, and understanding the structure, function, and evolution of the proteins found in these protein families is a study of life itself.

The focus of this course is the major protein families that make up living systems. The specific objective of this course is the study of the structure, function, and evolutionary-relatedness of proteins belonging to some of the major protein families found in living systems. In part 1 of the course, we study the elements of protein structure. In part 2 of the course, we learn how to study the evolutionary-relatedness of proteins through protein bioinformatics, so-called proteomics. In part 3 of the course, we study the structure, function, and proteomics of proteins that belong to 10 major protein families that operate in living systems.

Credits: 3.

Prerequisites: Biology 211 (Cell Biology) & Chem 211 (Organic Chemistry I) - or - (Chem 317 (Biochemistry I).