BIOL W3006: Physiology, Fall 2000

Topic 2: Male and female

Thursday, Sept 7:  Bioassay

• Lecture
  • Communication between cells
  • Berthold
  • Bioassay
    

• Required reading

• Other reading
  • Sherwood (4th ed):  635-648 or (3rd ed): 621-635.   This is a brief (but intensive) overview of endocrinology, most of which was covered in the intro course.   Don't worry about the table of specific hormones and functions now!  You'll be responsible for the ones we cover, when we do.
    
  • You should already know the basics of cell structure, how stuff gets across membranes, and signal transduction mechanisms.  If you took bio a while ago, you may want to review these topics in whichever textbook you used for introductory biology (eg, Purves, Campbell, Raven), many of which are on reserve in the Biology Library.  Or you can find these topics in Sherwood (4th ed): 17-29; 38-45; 49-78 or Sherwood (3rd ed): 16-28; 35-42; 46-70.

Tuesday, Sept 12:  Radioimmunoassay

• Lecture
  • Radioimmunoassay   
  • ELISA
  • Other techniques
    

• Required reading
  • No required reading, but I suggest you spend some time reviewing the material in Sherwood (listed above) that review the general principles of endocrinology, and the cellular mechanisms of hormone action.

• Other reading
  • "Hormone Measurement: Radioimmunoassay" Berne and Levy, Physiology, 3rd edition, Mosby-Year Book, 1993, pages 828-830. (A brief description of this technique).   On reserve in Biology Library.
  • 1977 Nobel Prize to Rosalyn Yalow for developing RIA, and to Guilllemin and Schally for isolating hypothalamic hormones. The "press release" includes a brief description of RIA
  • Radioimmunoassay.  The text of Yalow's acceptance speech.
  • Animation of the ELISA used to test for HIV
  • Another diagram of 3 types of ELISA, from Kuby's Immunology.

 

Thursday, Sept 14:  Male reproductive system

• Lecture
  • Male reproductive anatomy   
  • Hormonal control
  • Prostaglandins
    

• Required reading
  • Testosterone rules, Discover magazine, March 1997.  Robert Sapolsky analyzes the research on the relationship between testosterone and aggression.  Read this before the next class.
    
  • You should know the general structure/function of the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland, which we covered in the intro course.  To review this before class, see Sherwood (4th edition): 649-657 or Sherwood (3rd edition): 637-644.  Don't worry about learning all the specific hormones right now, but you should understand the general relationship between the hypothalamus and pituitary gland.

• Other reading
  • Sherwood (4th): page 715 and pp. 721-730 Sherwood (3rd): page 702 and pp.708-717
  • Prostaglandins: 1982 Nobel prize to 3 scientists who discovered prostaglandins.  Importance of the discovery is described under "press release".
  • Philip E. Smith, the Columbia University professor who studied pituitary function.

• Poetry
  • Fear of Gray's Anatomy, by Brendan Galvin.  Disappointed to learn that Leydig and Sertoli have cells in your body? 

 

Tuesday, Sept 19: Female reproductive system

• Lecture
  • Ovarian cycle
  • Hormonal control of menstrual cycle

• Required reading
  • Read the Testosterone Rules article, mentioned above, for next class.

• Other reading
  • Sherwood (4th): 734-743 or  Sherwood (3rd): 720-729

 

Thursday, Sept 21: Sexual differentiation

• Lecture
  • Uterine cycle
  • video clips from "The Miracle of Life"
  • Does testosterone cause aggression?
  • Start sexual differentiation

• Required reading
  • No required reading. 

• Other reading
  • finish: Sherwood (4th): 734-743 or  Sherwood (3rd): 720-729
  • Nettie Stevens, discovered sex chromosomes and proposed X/Y terminology.

• Health issues
  • PMS: Sorting fact from fiction from PDR Family Guide to Women's Health
  • Using foods against menstrual pain from Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, with a somewhat vegetarian agenda
  • Special health concerns of women from the Columbia University Complete Home Medical Guide
  • Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health, an online museum.  More than you ever wanted to know on the topic, a bit wordy

• Humor
  • Y chromosome map. Shows genes that have been localized to the Y chromosome, including TDF.

 

Tuesday, Sept 26: Sexual differentiation

• Lecture
  • Differentiation of gonads
  • Differentiation of ducts
  • Differentiation of genitals

• Required reading
  • No required reading. 

• Other reading
  • Sherwood (4th): 718-721 or  Sherwood (3rd): 704-708
  • Development of human external genitalia.  This is the animation I showed in class, from a lecture on Psychosexual differentiation at the University of Plymouth.

• Health issues
• Turner's Syndrome Society of the US. A support group
• Sex chromosome variations.  Mostly about Klinefelter's syndrome, includes information on some other conditions.

Thursday, Sept 28: Sexual differentiation and Lactation

• Lecture
  • Steroid hormone synthesis
  • Pseudohermaphroditism
  • Differentiation of the brain
  • Lactation

• Required reading
  • For Tuesday's class:  Read Roger Smith, "The Timing of Birth", Scientific American, March 1999.  Not available online, I'll put it on reserve.

• Other reading
  • Sherwood (4th):680-681 (CAH); 640-641 (steroid hormone synthesis); 758-761 (lactation);or  Sherwood (3rd): 666-667 (CAH); 626-627 (steroid hormone synthesis); 744-747 (lactation).
  • Chandler Burr, Homosexuality and Biology, The Atlantic Monthly, March 1993. A review of research into the possibility that sexual orientation is biologically based.  A bit dated, but a good way to understand some of the research that's been done.
  • David A. Hatch, from, Genitourinary Development, Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Photos of genital development in:
    Hermaphroditism
    Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
    movie of penile development in the embryo; requires QuickTime, slow download.

• Health issues
  • The Intersex Society of North America Many good links here, including
    • Intersex FAQ, a summary of the sexual anomalies we discussed
    • An interview with David Reimer, the boy who was raised as a girl.  Listen to it with Real Audio.
    • Intersex voices - Real people, first-person reports of what it was like to grow up with one of these conditions
    • How common is intersexuality?
  • Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome support group