Seminars and lectures requiring reading and discussion of classic and current literature are included. Discussion of hormonal modulation of renal function including catecholamines. ADH, prostaglandins and the renin-angiotensin system are included. A discussion of energy transduction in biological systems. Topics include the thermodynamics of biological processes, energetics of muscle contraction, active transport mechanisms, and oxidative phosphorylation.
Course includes student presentations of related subject material.
The course focuses on aspects of receptor-mediated signal transduction, activation of second messenger systems, and the regulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation. The course includes a review of original literature and presentations by the students. The course is designed to explore in detail factors underlying the contractile process and cardiac function, including the regulation of electrical, mechanical and metabolic processes in normal and pathological states. Emphasis will be placed on integration of physiologic mechanisms, particularly relating humoral mediators to cellular responses responsible for disruption of circulatory homeostasis. Functional studies will stress patch clamp, single channel recording, and heterologous expression of cloned and mutated channel proteins.