Molecular Biophysics (PHYS*4540)

Code and section: PHYS*4540*01

Term: Winter 2020

Instructor: Vladimir Ladizhansky

Details

Lecturer contact information

  • Vladimir Ladizhansky, SSC 1251, ext. 53989 
  • Email: vladizha@uoguelph.ca

Course Topics 

  • Protein structure. Nucleic acids structure. Factors determining protein and nucleic acid structures. Protein Stability. Biomembranes. Membrane proteins and their functions. Membrane transport. Evolution and Protein Folding. Human perspective: conformational diseases. 
  • Various topics in structural biology and biophysics of proteins. (Students’ presentations)
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and high resolution structure determination in biomolecules. Fundamentals of NMR. Multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. Brief introduction into NMR-based structure determination. Spectral Assignments. Determination of structural constraints. Constraint-based calculation of structure. Protein dynamics. 
  • Applications of NMR to various problems in structural biophysics. (Students' presentations) 

Evaluation 

  • Participation in discussions: 5%.
  • Quizzes: 9%
  • Assignments: 30%. 
    AMENDED: THERE WILL BE TWO ASSIGNMENTS ONLY
  • Presentations: 30%. Students will be asked to give two presentations.
    AMENDED: THE SECOND PRESENTATION WILL BE ONLINE. IN-PERSON MEETINGS ARE SUSPENDED. 
  • Final proposal/paper: 26%. Students will have to write a research proposal based on one of their presentations.

Textbooks 

  • Lodish et al, “Molecular Cell Biology” 5th edition
  • Charles R. Cantor and Paul R. Schimmel: “Biophysical chemistry” part I: The conformation of biological molecules.
  • Additional literature (papers, lecture notes, links to online materials, etc.) will be distributed. 

Recommended literature

  • Thomas E. Creighton, “Proteins: Structure and Molecular Properties”
  • Karp, “Cell and Molecular Biology”
  • Voet and Voet, “Biochemistry”
  • Stryer, “Biochemistry”
  • Alberts, "Molecular Biology of the Cell" 

Academic misconduct 

The University of Guelph takes a serious view of academic misconduct and will severely penalize students, faculty and staff who are found guilty of offenses associated with misappropriation of others' work, misrepresentation of personal performance and fraud, improper access to scholarly resources, and obstructing others in pursuit of their academic endeavours. Each student is assumed to be familiar with the regulations surrounding academic misconducts, as spelled out in the Undergraduate Calendar.