Skip to main content

120.621.01
Molecular Endocrinology

Location
East Baltimore
Term
3rd Term
Department
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Credit(s)
4
Academic Year
2013 - 2014
Instruction Method
TBD
Class Time(s)
Tu, Th, 3:30 - 4:50pm
Available to Undergraduate
No
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Description
Presents molecular biology as applied to endocrinology. Topics include the molecular biology and endocrinology of sexual differentiation, hypothalamic and pituitary regulation, ovarian follicular development, steroidogenesis, breast and prostate cancer, androgen, estrogen and thyroid hormone action, diabetes and insulin action, endocrine effects on immunity, G-protein coupled receptors and hormonal regulation of gene expression. Examines steroid and peptide hormone action via paracrine, autocrine, and endocrine mechanisms; transmembrane and intracellular signal transduction; and regulation of nuclear gene transcription.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
  1. Explain the molecular mechanisms by which steroid hormones activate nuclear receptors to provoke their biological effects
  2. Explain the molecular mechanisms by which peptide hormones activate cell surface receptors to provoke their biological effects
  3. Describe how androgens and estrogens are involved in cancers, as in the prostate and breast respectively
  4. Explain how the actions of peptide hormones (e.g. insulin) are involved in diseases (e.g. diabetes)
  5. Construct pathways of the endocrine systems that link control and production of hormones in specific tissues with the actions of these hormones in their respective target organs