[bioundgrd] FW: 7.344: Metabolism and Human Disease: MONDAY 2-4 PM

[Crystal Boateng]

Please see the information below about the Advanced Undergraduate Seminar 7.344: "Metabolism and Human Disease." This class is still open.
Best,
Crystal
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Crystal Boateng (Pronouns: they/them/themselves)
Biology Education Office 68-120
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
31 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
ph: 617-252-1783 / f: 617-258-9329 / e: cboateng at mit.edu<mailto:cboateng at mit.edu>



From: Allison Lau <anlau at mit.edu>
7.344  Metabolism and Human Disease
The class time for this seminar has been changed to MONDAY, 2-4 PM, located in 76-558. If you missed the first class, you can still take this course- registration is still open! Please email the instructors if interested. Thank you!
http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/7/fa16/7.344/
Instructors:   Allison Lau (anlau at mit.edu<mailto:lewisca at mit.edu>, 5-4523; laboratory of Matthew Vander Heiden)
                     Alexander Muir (amuir at mit.edu<mailto:amuir at mit.edu>, 5-4523; laboratory of Matthew Vander Heiden)
Cancer and diabetes are the 2nd and 7th leading causes of death in the United States, with diabetes also being a major risk factor for other deadly conditions, such as cardiovascular disease. The incidence rates for both diabetes and cancer are increasing, and together cancer and diabetes will kill more than half a million U.S. residents this year. It is pressing to understand, prevent and treat these increasingly prevalent diseases. Underpinning both cancer and diabetes are dramatic changes in metabolism, the basic energy and mass-producing biochemical reactions of the cell. In this course, we will explore how metabolic alterations drive cancer and diabetes. We will ask questions such as: Why do tumors consume more sugar than normal cells? How does a drug used to treat diabetes also decrease cancer incidence and death? How does the liver store excess sugar after a meal, and how do metabolic changes in diabetics alter this liver function? How do fat cells know when to store or burn fuels? We will read, discuss and critically evaluate primary scientific papers about these topics to learn how scientists experimentally approach fundamental issues in biology and medicine. We will see that recent findings have challenged the traditional “textbook” understanding of metabolism and given us new insight into cancer and diabetes. For example, we will discuss the surprising finding that isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), a well characterized metabolic enzyme previously thought to simply function in the energy producing TCA cycle, can become mutated to become a potent oncogene by producing a novel cancer-causing metabolite. Students will have the opportunity to visit a local pharmaceutical company that is developing therapeutics to target cancer metabolism, including inhibitors of mutant IDH proteins, in an effort to revolutionize cancer therapy.

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