Course Objectives
Within this course, students will gain insight into various mechanisms of cell differentiation. They will become thoroughly familiar with the mechanisms of cell differentiation during embryonic development, cell differentiation in adult organisms, and cell dedifferentiation.
Course Content
Lectures:
1. Introduction to cell differentiation ? examples of cell differentiation, historical overview of major discoveries
2. Mechanisms of cell differentiation ? transcription factors, epigenetic mechanisms, signaling pathways, cell interactions, environmental factors, etc.
3. Stem cells ? types of stem cells and their differentiation into specific cell types
4. Embryonic development ? mechanisms of cell differentiation during embryonic development
5. Gametogenesis ? mechanisms of gamete formation in both sexes
6. Hematopoiesis - mechanisms of blood cell differentiation from hematopoietic stem cells
7. Neurogenesis ? mechanisms of neural cell differentiation from neural stem cells
8. Mechanisms of cell dedifferentiation
Exercises:
1. Cultivation of two tumor cell lines representing two different stages of B-cell differentiation ? NALM-6 (pre-B-cells) and ARH-77 (plasma cells)
2. Primer design for expression analysis of several genes encoding transcription factors and other proteins involved in B-cell differentiation
3. RNA isolation using a commercial kit
4. DNase treatment and reverse transcription
5. Testing designed primers using PCR
6. Quantitative PCR for gene expression analysis
Seminars:
Students independently explore topics related to cell differentiation that were not covered during lectures. To prepare their seminars, students will use original research articles and review papers. Students publicly present their work in the form of a PowerPoint presentation and engage in discussion about the topic they have covered.
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