Course Overview

This course focuses on the structure and function of human cells (human cell biology) in the context of human health and disease. Lectures focus on normal functions at the molecular and cellular level. Topics include molecules, organelles, cells and cell interactions, regulation, signaling and death. Examples of well-known disease mechanisms are discussed. Normal cell functions are contrasted to functional abnormalities characteristic of the underlying pathophysiology, which are correlated with clinical manifestations where appropriate. Therapeutic approaches and relationships to underlying disease mechanisms are included to illustrate how interventions at the cell biological level restore normal or near normal function and ameliorate clinical symptoms and improve patient prognosis.

Learning Objectives

The overarching learning objectives for this course are:

1. Describe the normal structure and function of human cells and their specializations and contrast these normal aspects to abnormalities characteristic of specific human disease states.
2. Explain the normal formation of the extracellular matrix in different human tissues and contrast normal aspects to abnormalities characteristic of specific human disorders or diseases.
3. Discuss the normal cell and matrix changes that occur during growth, development and aging and compare normal changes to perturbations observed in syndromes that do not cause frank disease but cause changes in normal functions that give rise to clinical manifestations.