Chapter 13, pages 458-477
Vision
We will work through figure 13-23 in class. You should note that this system is very similar to the b andrenergic receptor system. Isn't nature efficient?
How much is this signal amplified? The signal shut off mechanism is also similar to the b andrenergic receptor system, except that calcium ions also play a role.
How do we see color? What was wrong with Dalton's eye balls?
Olfaction and Gustation
How can we smell so many odors?
What are the four kinds of taste buds? What types of molecules taste sour? What types of molecules taste bitter? What amino acids might be in the binding sites of those taste buds?
How does the cholera toxin cause diarhea? How does the pertussis toxin decrease blood glucose.
Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation
This little paragraph has a bit of information about phosphatases and about how some of the kinases are anchored close to their substrates. It also gives us two more acronyms: RACK and PICK.
Steroid Hormones
What are the effects of steroid hormones? How do they exert these effects. What new acronyms are introduced in this section? How does tamoxifen work as an anti-breast cancer drug? How does RU486 work?
What are the four cell cycle stages? We will discuss the cyclin-cyclin dependent protein kinase system in class. We will work through figure 13-33 in class.
What are oncogenes? How are they related to growth factor receptors?
How do the tumor suppressor gene products work? Be able to give one example of one of these genes, eg: p53 or pRb or p21. Figure 13-38 shows how normal cells become metastatic carcinoma cells. That's why early detection is the key to most cancer cures.
Be able to discribe apoptosis. We will work through figure 13-39 in class.