Nursing

Activity type

Scienze propedeutiche

SSD

PHYS-06/A

Year

1st year

Semester

1st semester

CFU

1

Hours distribution

12 classroom hours

Lecturers

CESARE BINI

Activity type

Scienze biomediche

SSD

BIOS-07/A

Year

1st year

Semester

1st semester

CFU

2

Hours distribution

24 classroom hours

Lecturers

LUCIA MARCOCCI

Activity type

Scienze biomediche

SSD

BIOS-10/A

Year

1st year

Semester

1st semester

CFU

2

Hours distribution

24 classroom hours

Lecturers

FIORENZA COLLORIDI

Activity type

Scienze biomediche

SSD

MEDS-01/A

Year

1st year

Semester

1st semester

CFU

1

Hours distribution

12 classroom hours

Lecturers

FIORENZA COLLORIDI

By the end of the course, the student will be expected to know, understand, and grasp the fundamentals of the physical, chemical, and molecular processes characteristic of living organisms.

Basic knowledge of mathematics, physics, and biology acquired during high school studies.

Module:
N/D
Module:
• Origin of life, the prebiotic world, and chemical evolution: Periodic table of the elements, atomic structure, chemical bonds: covalent, ionic, and hydrogen. Carbon chemistry: functional groups (alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, amines, amides, esters, anhydrides, hemiacetals, acetals, hemiketals, ketals). Stereoisomerism. Water chemistry: structure, solvation, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, van der Waals interactions, ionic bonds, colligative properties, osmosis, diffusion, ionization, acid-base chemistry, pH, pK, buffer systems, biological phosphate and carbonate buffers. Cellular architecture: organization, structure, and composition of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells; functional role of subcellular organelles.

• Structure and function of amino acids and proteins: Structure and function of standard and certain non-standard amino acids; ionization and acid-base properties of amino acids. Peptide bond; primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure; protein denaturation and folding. Structure and function of collagen, immunoglobulins, myoglobin, and hemoglobin. Saturation curves for myoglobin and hemoglobin; allostery, cooperativity, Bohr effect, carbon dioxide transport, pathological hemoglobins. Blood biochemistry: albumin, globulins, electrophoretic analysis. General properties of enzymes, Michaelis-Menten equation, double-reciprocal plot. Enzyme inhibition. Mechanisms regulating enzyme activity. Coenzymes and vitamins.
• Carbohydrates: structure and function of monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, and glycoconjugates; role of oligosaccharides in cell recognition and adhesion; blood group antigenic determinants, lectins, glycoproteins.

• Lipids and membranes Cellular components: structure and function of fatty acids, triacylglycerols, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, prostaglandins, and sterols. Membrane structure and organization. Transporters, receptors, and cell adhesion proteins.

• Metabolism: laws of thermodynamics, free energy, role of nucleotide triphosphates and high-energy phosphorylated compounds, redox reactions. Electron transport chain. ATP synthesis. Catabolism and anabolism. Overview of carbohydrate, lipid, and nitrogen-containing compound metabolism.



Module:
The biological basis of life. General properties and fundamental components of living things. Levels of organization of living things
Cell biology: Cell theory. Prokaryotes and eukaryotes: characteristics and differences. Organization of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell.
Structure and properties of the cell membrane. Structure and function of the cell: The cytoplasm, the cell nucleus, cytoplasmic organelles: smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, ribosomes, mitochondria, lysosomes, peroxisomes
The cytoskeleton, cell junctions (outline)
The cell division cycle: The cell cycle, mitosis
Molecular basis of heredity:
Nucleic acids: DNA, RNA: composition and structure; role of the various types of RNA. Flow of genetic information, from DNA to proteins. DNA replication, transcription, genetic code, translation. Targeting and modification of proteins.
Control and regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes, overview
Human genes and genomes. Chromatin and chromosomes.



Module:
Fundamentals of Medical Genetics: Organization of the human genome, mutations, and polymorphisms.
Meiosis and gametogenesis
Genetic diseases and their classification: genetic defect and clinical description.
Mendelian inheritance: autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked
Pedigree processing and analysis, calculation of recurrence risks
Atypical mechanisms of inheritance (imprinting, anticipation, mitochondrial)
Human karyotype analysis; chromosomal anomalies and disorders of number and structure.
Genomic disorders: microdeletion and microduplication syndromes
Multifactorial inheritance and complex diseases
The genetic basis of tumors
Malformation syndromes and congenital defects: etiology and clinical presentation. Rare diseases
Prenatal diagnosis: Invasive and non-invasive techniques.
Genetic counseling, genetic testing.
Main applications of cytogenetic and molecular genetic techniques in clinical practice
The importance of the role of the genetics nurse in genetic counseling and clinical genetics

Module:
N/D
Module:
Introduzione alla Biochimica di Lehninger, Nelson, Zanichelli
Chimica e Biochimica, Stefani, Taddei, Zanichelli
Elementi di Chimica e Biochimica, Chiricozzi, Colombo, Magni, Marin, Palestini, Tugnoli, EdiSES
M. Samaja, R. Paroni - CHIMICA E BIOCHIMICA per le lauree triennali dell’area Biomedica - Ed. Piccin
PubMed



Module:
N/D
Module:
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Module:
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Module:
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Module:
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Module:
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The topics are presented by the teacher through slides. Summary of the topics shown in the previous lesson. Questions to the class to stimulate knowledge about the connection among biological processes.

Mandatory

Multiple-choice test on the course topics

In the genetic code, a codon
• consists of three bases
• specifies a single amino acid
• specifies more than one amino acid
• includes two stop codons

The Golgi apparatus is the site of
• lipid synthesis
• the digestion of proteins coming from the RER
• protein sorting and packaging
• lipid sorting and packaging

An individual is defined as heterozygous when:
• they have two different sex chromosomes
• they are non-identical twins
• they possess different alleles at a specific locus
• they possess different copies of a particular gene

An individual with blood group A cannot be the offspring of which of the following pairs?
• O x O
• A x O
• AB x AB
• B x A

What is the purpose of predictive or susceptibility tests?
• they identify situations of increased or decreased disease risk compared to the population average
• they identify late-onset diseases
• they provide certainty regarding disease status
• they suggest which tests should be performed

Which of the following molecules is a phospholipid?
What does the protein's primary structure indicate?
What is the function of a receptor?

Module:
N/D
Module:

• Atoms, molecules, and carbon chemistry; functional groups; stereoisomerism.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Acid-base properties and the biochemistry of water: ion product, pH, pKa,
  Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.Phosphate and bicarbonate buffer systems; water
  as a reactant; colligative properties; physiological solutions.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Common and uncommon amino acids; chemical characteristics; charge; the
  peptide bond. Primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary protein structures.
  Structures of keratin, fibroin, albumin, chymotrypsin, collagen, and
  immunoglobulins.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Structure and function of myoglobin and hemoglobin: saturation curves. Allostery, cooperativity, and the effects of pH, CO2, and bisphosphoglycerate. Carboxy-Hb, Met-Hb, pathological hemoglobins, and thalassemias. Enzymes: transition states, catalytic mechanisms.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Michaelis-Menten kinetics, Vmax, Km, allosteric enzymes, modulators, inhibitors, double-reciprocal plots.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Carbohydrates: monosaccharides, sugar derivatives, cyclization, the glycosidic bond, disaccharides, starch, cellulose, glycogen. Polysaccharides, peptidoglycan, proteoglycans, aggrecans, blood group determinants.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Lipids: physicochemical properties, liposomes, lipoproteins, biological
  membranes. Membrane transporters: glucose transport, Na+/K+-ATPase pump, SERCA
  pump.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Receptors, signaling pathways, cyclic nucleotides, G proteins, adrenergic signaling, the mechanism of vision. Tyrosine kinase receptors, insulin, nuclear receptors, steroid hormones. 
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• Laws of thermodynamics, free energy, role of nucleotide triphosphates and high-energy phosphorylated compounds, redox reactions. Electron transport chain.
  • Books: At the student's discretion


• ATP synthesis. Catabolism, anabolism. Overview of carbohydrate, lipid, and nitrogen-containing compound metabolism.
  • Books: At the student's discretion