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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Signaling actions of small molecules by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KAIST)

About the Course

Our life is fine-controlled by various molecules in cells. Different types of molecules include macromolecules (e.g., protein, nucleic acid) and small molecules. In addition to classical views of central dogma, emerging roles of small molecules called metaboites have been recently proposed to significantly impact biological events. Metabolites are contiuously and dynamically produced by different metabolic pathways, thus playing key roles in energy metabolism as well as macromolecular biosynthesis/degradation. Accumulating evidence clearly suggests that certain types of metabolites exert signaling actions through interactions with macromolecules. Compared to other protein-protein and nucleic acid-protein interactions, metabolite-protein interactions appear significant in living cells, therby mediating specific actions in regulating target protein functions and activities. This 6 week-course will give you a solid introduction to the basic fundamentals of metabolite-mediated cell signaling. I will first define the concept of metabolites and introduces major types of molceular interactions. Throughout 6 weeks, we will study biochemical basis of metabolite actions in cell signaling. In particular, we will study interesting examples of how endogenous small molecules intreact with target proteins and control their functions. These major topics will be explained in the context of human health and disease such as cancer and inflammtion. Everyone appreciates that cell signaling is essential for sustaining life. How can you explain the action of noxious gases like nitric oxide in controlling blood pressure? What can be the fundamental mode of energy metabolites in modulating gene expression? Have you ever thought about ways of how our gut microbiota can influence our body? By studying signaling actions of metabolites, we can better understand the complex but wonderful nature of our cellular signaling system, further identifying novel ways to manage major human disease....
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1 - 4 of 4 Reviews for Signaling actions of small molecules

By Deepa J

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Jun 30, 2024

Thank you so much for providing me this opportunity to become a part of your learner society, this course was indeed helpful for me to understand the role of signalling molecule in various cellular mechanism in depth.

By Deniz C

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May 10, 2024

Great course! Easy to understand and very fascinating. I hope there will be a sequel soon!

By M Z U A

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Sep 13, 2025

that was very impressive and comprehensive course.

By Jorge A G M

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Feb 21, 2024

I took this course right after the one in cell signaling. It was also very enjoyable, lots of info and examples. This course however, seems to require a bit more of a background in organic or bio chemistry, otherwise much of the nomenclature and molecular structures could be confusing. I appreciated a lot the lecture notes at the end of each week and the review video. While it feels very comprehensive, I believe it requires a bit of editing: some slides present minor differences between text and what the instructor is saying, which could be confusing if, like me, you don't have the aforementioned background. Some of the week test questions are formulated weirdly (asking for a definition but all options given being examples) and in one of the videos there's a scene where a couple slides are ignored and the instructor speaks in Korean (I think they were going to cut this part and forgot to do it). It would also be nice to have a description on each lesson's page, so far it's only titled: 'untitled lesson'.