2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Life Science and Technology Department of Life Science and Technology Graduate major in Life Science and Technology
Science of Metabolism
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Life Science and Technology
- Instructor(s)
- Takashi Hirasawa / Nobuaki Shiraki / Akira Kato / Shinji Masuda
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - Class
- -
- Course Code
- LST.A407
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Apr 1, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Cellular metabolism is required to obtain the energy for growth and is closely related to cellular responses and diseases. This course will provide an overview of cellular responses and diseases in microorganisms, animals and plants from a viewpoint of metabolism.
The aim of this course is to learn the cellular responses and diseases in organisms and application of their knowledge to the fields of engineering and medical science.
Course description and aims
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Understand the metabolic regulations in microbial cells and explain the technologies and examples of bioproduction using microbial cells.
2) Understand the mechanism of photosynthesis and explain the role of plants and photosynthetic bacteria in ecosystem.
3) Understand the role of the urinary, gastrointestinal, muscular and endocrine systems in mammalian water-electrolyte and energy metabolisms and the mechanisms of related diseases.
4) Understand the metabolic regulations in stem cells and explain cell differentiation technology and therapy utilizing its characteristics.
Keywords
Microorganisms, Metabolic engineering, Bioproduction, Water-electrolyte metabolism, Energy metabolism, Photosynthesis, Organ function, Stem cell, Amino acid metabolism, Regenerative medicine
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
The lecture will be held through Zoom (Live). Students should familiarize themselves with topics described in the required learning section before coming to the class. Students might be given exercise problems related to what is taught on that day to solve.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | What is metabolic engineering? | Explain the definition of metabolic engineering and methodology of metabolic engineering and study the strategies for bioproduction using microbial cells and recent progresses of bioproductions |
| Class 2 | Metabolic flux analysis 1 | Create metabolic reaction model for metabolic flux analysis |
| Class 3 | Metabolic flux analysis 2 | Understand the methodology for analyzing intracellular metabolic fluxes |
| Class 4 | Basics of photosynthesis | Understand the mechanism of photosynthesis |
| Class 5 | Phototrophic cells and organisms | Understand phototrophs |
| Class 6 | Evolution and ecological importance of phototrophs | Understand evolution and ecological importance of phototrophs on the earth |
| Class 7 | Water-electrolyte metabolism in mammals | Understand the role of the kidney and intestine in water-electrolyte metabolism at molecular, cellular and tissue level. |
| Class 8 | Regulation of water-electrolyte metabolism and diseases | Study the endocrine regulation of water-electrolyte metabolism and related diseases. |
| Class 9 | Energy metabolism in mammals | Understand the role of the intestine, liver, adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in energy metabolism at molecular, cellular and tissue level. |
| Class 10 | Regulation of energy metabolism and diseases | Study the endocrine regulation of energy metabolism and related diseases. |
| Class 11 | Overview of stem cell metabolism | Review the enagy metabolism in embryonic and somatic stem cells |
| Class 12 | Glucose metabolism of stem cells | Review the glucose metabolism studied in undergraduate major courses in Life Science and Technology, and understand the glucose metabolism of stem cells |
| Class 13 | Amino acid metabolism of stem cells | Understand the amino acid metabolism of stem cells, and its role in the pluripotency and differentiation of stem cells |
| Class 14 | Stem cell metabolism for regenerative medicine | Understand the regenerative medicine research using unique metabolic properties of stem cells |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Course materials are provided through T2SCHOLA.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Each instructor will give a mini test related to the lecture in every class.
Based on your answers of mini tests, students will be assessed on their achievements described in "Student learning outcomes."
Related courses
- 400-level graduate major courses in Life Science and Technology
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are necessary, but it is desirable to have basic knowledge of biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology.
Other
This course will follow from the basic to advanced levels. For Japanese students, outline of the class will be explained in Japanese at the end of the class.