Module: Advanced Cell Biology

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Advanced Cell Biology
Module Code	BIO1006 (ITS: BE323)
Faculty	Biotechnology	School	Science & Health
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

The purpose of this module is to help students build on their understanding of advanced concepts of cell biology, focusing on structure and function of proteins, lipids and extracellular vesicles; signaling pathways, cell cycle and cellular-cross talk with immune cells. Students will gain insight into dysregulation of cellular processes which can lead to diseases such as cancer and diabetes. They will also focus on tools (particularly lipidomics, proteomics, extracellular vesicles, targeted therapies) used for advancing molecular medicine, disease diagnosis and treatment.

Learning Outcomes

1. Value why lipids and extracellular vesicles are considered a new platform for drug delivery, biomarker discovery and future cancer therapies.
2. Describe the functional characteristics of human pancreatic beta cells and evaluate the most promising sources of new beta cells for functional replacement in Type 1 diabetes.
3. Discuss the advancement in proteomic/mass spec methods to detect specific proteins in biological samples
4. Define the molecules, cell types and pathways that uniquely distinguish the cells in the body including those of the immune system
5. Knowledge of molecular, genomic and cellular processes of immunological and cancer diseases
6. Identify and discuss the cell dysregulations that lead to the hallmarks of cancer

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	24	No Description
Workshop	6	No Description
Assignment Completion	10	No Description
Independent Study	85	No Description
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	10141	Part of Term	Semester 1
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Naomi Walsh	Module Teacher	Denise Harold, Linda Holland, Paul Cahill, Paula Meleady

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Formal Examination	Exam will consist of 3 questions; students are asked to answer 3 out of 4 questions in 2 hr exam	100%	End-of-Semester

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Cellular Immunology
Innate & adaptive immunity, Complement, B cells, T Cells, macrophages

Cellular Diseases
Cancer cell biology, interactions between tissue cellular systems (vascular and immune cells). Immune mechanisms in disease pathogenesis. Lipid Biomarkers in cancer and diabetes

Lipids in Cell Biology
Cellular compartments of common biological lipids; Lipid movements into and out of cells; Modern Lipid analysis Methods; Lipidomics

Pancreatic beta cell biology
Processing of Proinsulin; Secretion of insulin; Post insulin receptor binding events in target tissues; Beta cell replacement with allogeneic, xenogeneic pancreatic islets, expanded beta cells, embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived beta cells; Functionality criteria & analytical methods.

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Lodish, Harvey F: 2013, Molecular Cell Biology, 7th Edition, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1464109818, 9
Karp, Gerald: 2010, Cell biology, 6th, John Wiley & Sons, 2010, Hoboken, N.J, 0470505761, 9

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None