
Cell Biology C
Code
7122
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
Department
Departamento de Ciências da Vida
Credits
6.0
Teacher in charge
Isabel Maria Godinho de Sá Nogueira, Luís Jaime Gomes Ferreira da Silva Mota
Weekly hours
3
Total hours
52
Teaching language
Português
Objectives
The main objective of this curricular unit is to provide a general overview of the fundamental concepts required for an understading of the functional structure of living cells.It is expected that upon its completions, the students will be able to:
- identify similarities and differences between the different types of cells;
- describe how proteins are synthesized from DNA and how the underlying processes are controlled;
- identify the different organelles in eukaryotic cells and describe their functions;
- compare the structure and function of the components of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells;
- know how proteins and membranes are transported within a living cell;
- know the main concepts underlying cell cycle and cell division, cell signaling, cellular adhesion, and cancer;
- identify the main experimental approaches used in Cell Biology studies;
- analyze results of experiments related with the themes of this curricular unit.
Prerequisites
There are no previous requirements.
Subject matter
Organization and function of living cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Composition and function of cellular membranes. Methods used in Cell Biology. Function of cell organelles and essential cell processes: nuclear organization; DNA replication; DNA transcription; synthesis of proteins; control of gene expression; mitochondria and chloroplasts; peroxissomes; endoplasmic reticulum; Golgi; lysosomes and endosomes. Intracellular transport: nuclear, transmembrane and vesicular. Cytoskeleton and molecular motors. Cell signalling. Cell cycle and cell division. Extracellular matrix and cellular adhesion. Cancer.
Bibliography
Biologia Celular e Molecular, Carlos Azevedo e Cláudio E. Sunkel, 5a Edição, 2012, Edições Lidel, Lisboa.
Essential Cell Biology, Bruce Alberts, Dennis Bray, Karen Hopkin, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter, 3rd Edition, 2008, Garland Science, Taylor&Francis Group, New York.
Slides from the lectures and list of problems from the problem-solving sessions (provided by the lecturer)
Teaching method
Lectures and problem-solving sessions using multimedia devices.
Evaluation method
- Continuous evaluation:
i) 3 closed-book written tests, based on lectures and on problem-solving sessions. The grades (0-20) will de disclosed to one decimal place. The arithmetic mean of the grades from the 3 tests will correspond to 85% of the final grade and must be ≥ 9.5 for approval at the curricular unit.
ii) evaluation of the participation and performance in the problem-solving sessions. From 0-20. Minimal grade of 10. Corresponds to 15% of the final grade.
- Pre-registration is required to each of the written tests.
- The final mark (0-20) will be the weighted average of the three written tests (85%) and of the evaluation in the problem-solving sessions (15%). For its calculation, the weighted average will be rounded to the nearest integer.
- Approval at the curricular unit requires a weighted average of at least 10 points (i.e., 9.5).
- If the evaluation is by exam, the final mark will be the weighted average of the exam (85%) and of the evaluation in the problem-solving sessions (15%), rounded to the nearest integer. For students approved at the curricular unit in the curricular year of 2012/2013 and who do the exam to improve their grade, the final grade will be the one from the exam.
- To be accepted at the exam, the students cannot miss more than 3 problem-solving sessions (unless their absence is dully justified). If this exigence is accomplished this year (2014/2015), it will not be valid on the next years. This exigence is not applied to students registered but not approved in the previous curricular year (2013/2014), as long as they were present at a minimum number of problem solving sessions. These students can attend the problem solving sessions and in this case their evaluation can only contribute to improve their grade of the previous year.
- The students who formally work are not obliged to be present in a minimum number of problem-solving sessions and are not subject to evaluation in the problem-solving sessions. In these exceptional cases, the final mark will be the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained in each of the tests or of the exam.