Block 7 Featured Course / Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry / Professor: Dr. Margaret Daugherty
This course focuses on selected metabolic diseases and current health topics as related to protein structure and function. There is special emphasis given to the presentation of scientific literature related to current understanding of how protein structure impacts health.
From Prof. Daugherty:
My current research interests focus on how disordered regions of proteins give rise to loose associations among proteins, in a phenomenon called liquid liquid phase separation (LLPS). A major focus of the class is investigating the role of LLPS in health and disease, from the aspect of protein structure. This class challenges students to design and experimentally test hypotheses using a model protein. Our main focus is on a region of a DNA binding protein that plays a major role in gene transcription, and is of medical relevance. Students read current literature on the computation approaches and experimental techniques for investigating both protein structure and the LLPS phenomenon.
Reading List
Beyond the textbook:
- Crabtree, M. and Nott, T. “These Organelles Have No Membranes.” The Scientist, December 1, 2018.
- Wang, B., Zhang, L., Dai, T. et al. “Liquid–liquid phase separation in human health and diseases.” Sig Transduct Target Ther 6, 290 (2021).