Molecular Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Computer Science for Pharmaceutical Applications

o Introduction to the fundamentals of Biological Chemistry II: the central dogma of Molecular Biology (1 h) o DNA and RNA nucleic acids: structure and synthesis (4 h) o Nucleic acid sequencing (1 h) o Ribosome and protein synthesis (2 h) o Proteins: structural levels, modules and protein domains (3 h) o Protein structure prediction and IT and AI tools (2 h) o Protein purification techniques and introduction to analytical methods (4 h) o Enzymes: fundamentals of enzymatic kinetics and catalytic mechanisms (4 h) o Signal transduction I: types of receptors and "scaffold" proteins (2 h) o Signal transduction II: DNA-protein interactions (2 h) The topics will be dealt with from a chemical biology perspective

Essential: notions of general chemistry Important: notions of organic chemistry and physics Useful: notions of general biology

1) Van Vranken, David & Weiss, Gregory. Introduction to Bioorganic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, 1st ed.; Garland Science: New York, 2013. 2) Foundations of Chemical Biology: 98 J. Pratt, C. Dobson, and J. Gerrard ISBN: 9780199248995 3) Voet's Principles of Biochemistry Global Edition, D. Voet, J. Voet and C. Pratt ISBN:978-1119451662 4) Recent research articles

Attendance at the course is optional but highly recommended.

The exam will be taken in written form followed by an oral exam to confirm, and possibly improve, the written test grade To pass the examination, a grade of not less than 18/30 in the written examination must be obtained. The student must demonstrate that he has acquired sufficient knowledge of the main topics covered in the course, with particular relevance to the different application areas of "Chemical Biology". Honors will be awarded, upon achievement of 30/30, to students who have demonstrated that they have achieved a higher level of knowledge and in-depth study of the subjects with autonomy of study, language appropriateness and excellent communication skills. During the exam, the student's preparation will be verified through open and closed questions that require the application of the knowledge acquired during the course as well as his/her ability to discuss a current problem relating to research appropriate for the course. The final grade will be an overall evaluation of the written examination and the oral interview. Knowledge and understanding - The exam, carried out in a mixed mode (written and oral), enables to assess the level of knowledge and in-depth understanding achieved by the student. Autonomy of judgment - During the oral examination the student will have to demonstrate that he is able to make connections between the topics covered. Communication skills - During the oral examination the student will have to argue and express the acquired knowledge using an appropriate technical-scientific language; Ability to learn - The presence of the biochemical basis and the ability to integrate such theoretical knowledge will be assessed with questions related to a possible experiment, so to define the level of autonomy in the realization of future experiments. How to conduct online exams in the event of a health emergency: the examination will be carried out via the web, through the use of the appropriate E-learning platform.

The teaching of “Fundamentals of Chemical Biology II” consists of frontal lectures. The lessons are all interactive, so the teacher stimulates the students with questions to which they can answer by virtue of the courses or lessons already attended. This allows the lecturer to highlight the links between the current course and previous ones. The constant reminder to notions from previous or parallel courses must accustom the student not to study the proposed subject as something isolated, aimed at passing the final exam, to be filed immediately after, but wants to stimulate a multidisciplinary study, to which the student should be educated. The student will find the slides and teaching material (exam program, recommended texts) useful for preparing the exam on the e-learning platform. It is understood that the slides are a guide to the exam topics.