Thalidomide: A Tale of Shapes and Misshapes

<p style="line-height:1.2"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">There are six worksheets in this resource. A brief description of each worksheet is listed here.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <ul> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 1 – Introduction to the drug thalidomide and its use.  </span></span></span></span></span></span></li> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 2 – Exploring the chirality of thalidomide.</span></span></span></span></span></span></li> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 3 – Introduced to the scientific research that identified cereblon as the thalidomide binding protein and the role of cereblon in the cell.   </span></span></span></span></span></span></li> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 4 – Find a protein structure in the PDB that interacts with (S)-thalidomide - cereblon (CRBN) and Sall4. Students also explore the complete structure of the proteins using AlphaFold predictions. </span></span></span></span></span></span></li> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 5 – Chemical interactions between (S)-thalidomide and its protein targets. </span></span></span></span></span></span></li> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 6 (optional) - How (S)-thalidomide and (R)-thalidomide bind to cereblon.</span></span></span></span></span></span></li> <li aria-level="1" style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Cambria,serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Worksheet 7 (assessment) - for the case. Learn how scientists have developed thalidomide-like structures that are being used in the modern treatment of different diseases, including forms of leprosy and cancer. </span></span></span></span></span></span></li> </ul> <p>The image of Niko von Glasow used in the resource was taken by Niko von Glasow - Niko von Glasow, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9770791.</p>