COURSES

Goals

The goal of the course is to familiarize the student with the current state of research in the field of protein synthesis using as a help a script that will be provided. The students are then supposed to prepare a paper in which they propose a research project that would have potential for new discoveries in the field. After hearing the lectures the students present and defend their research proposal paper. General competences: - Students will develop skills to evaluate the literature and extract the most important data for understanding of the subject. - Students will also develop skills for scientific writing and for scientific discussions. - Students will also learn the basics of some methods used in structural biology (x-ray crystallography and electron microscopy). - Students will have an opportunity to present and defend their scientific ideas fostering independent thinking in science. Course specific competences: The student will learn to critically evaluate the literature in a particular field. They will also learn the advantages and the limitations of various methods in structural biology. The class, the research paper and the discussions will be held in English providing additional training and preparation for conducting science at an international level.

Curriculum

High resolution structure of the small ribosomal subunit - Overall architecture - Protein RNA interactions - Role in translational fidelity - decoding High resolution structure of the large ribosomal subunit - Overall structure of the large ribosomal subunit - The role of the ribosome in the peptidyl transferase reaction - The tunnel of the ribosome and an example of antibiotic action High resolution structure of the bacterial 70S ribosome - Conformation of the mRNA - Interactions of tRNAs with the ribosome Co-translational protein targeting - Signal recognition particle - Translocon – protein conducting channel Ribosome associated chaperones and co-translational protein folding and processing - Trigger factor – bacterial ribosome associated chaperone - Peptide deformylase – mechanism of co-translational nascent chain processing