MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOPHYSICS

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

Focus on background principles of common biophysical methods used to uncover the structure and function of biological macromolecules and assemblies, and how this information can be used to describe biological mechanisms that impact animal physiology. Topics covered include spectroscopic methods (ex. absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism, EPR, NMR), transport processes, sedimentation, calorimetry, mass spectrometry, crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, ligand-protein interactions, protein folding, single molecule detection, and functional genomics. Biological examples will be used to demonstrate merits and complementarity in each of the biophysical methods, with applications in vitro and in intact cellular systems. Specific emphasis will be given to mechanism in the nervous system. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: BIOS 551 .