title: p53 as Batman: using a movie plot to understand control of the cell cycle.
abstract: This Teaching Resource provides and describes a two-part classroom exercise to help students understand control of the cell cycle, with a focus on the transcription factor p53, the E3 ubiquitin ligase Mdm2, the Mdm2 inhibitor ARF, the kinases ATM and ATR, the kinase Chk2, and the cell cycle inhibitor p21(Cip1). Students use characters and scenes from the movie The Dark Knight to represent elements of the cell cycle control machinery, then they apply these characters and scenes to translate a primary research article on p53 function into a new movie scene in the "Batman universe." This exercise is appropriate for college-level courses in cell biology and cancer biology and requires students to have a background in introductory cell biology. Explicit learning outcomes and associated assessment methods are provided, as well as slides, student assignments, the primary research article, and an instructor's guide for the exercise.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Nikhita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gadi
authors.forename: Sage E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nowey
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Plopper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D015139:Blotting, Southern / Q000379:methods; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000502:physiology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D064447:Checkpoint Kinase 2; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051736:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013664:Teaching Materials; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C493956:CDKN1A protein, human; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D051736:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2; D064447:Checkpoint Kinase 2; C576324:ATM protein, human; C576597:ATR protein, human; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; C576325:Atm protein, mouse; C578634:CHEK2 protein, human; C578633:Chek2 protein, mouse; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases