GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY

Course objectives

General objectives The "General Biochemistry" course, through lectures and some laboratory experiences, aims to provide students with the conceptual basis to understand the physical, chemical and biological context in which the biological (macro)molecules are found to carry out their activity and where reactions take place. Particular emphasis will be given to the relationships between structure and function of the main classes of macromolecules. Specific Objectives: 1. Knowledge and understanding (Dublin 1): the development of the knowledge defined in the educational objectives is achieved through theoretical lectures supported by seminars. Know the main metabolic pathways, their regulation at the molecular and cellular level and their integration; recognize the logic that governs the intermediate metabolic flows. 2. Applying knowledge and understanding (Dublin 2): the theoretical knowledge acquired through the course enables the student to independently evaluate and apply the basic concepts listed in the course program indicated below. 3. Making judgments (Dublin 3): the study of current scientific literature supported by theoretical knowledge gained in lectures enables the student to be able to independently and critically evaluate concepts presented and to carry out further literature searches to integrate the knowledge. 4. Communication skills (Dublin 4): drafting of a summary of a recent scientific article related to the concept of "General Biochemistry" together with continuous dialogue with the teacher and other students during the course, will help the student to clearly and concisely illustrate the information obtained from the various experiments, also favoring the use of a suitable technical scientific language 5. Learning skills (Dublin 5): The lectures enable the student to create a solid foundation in terms of knowledge of "General Biochemistry". The integration of this theoretical knowledge with current scientific literature will favor an increase in the autonomy of the evaluation of scientific concepts based on the literature consulted by drawing on reference texts and bibliography, in English.

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LUCA PACINI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
1) Fundamentals of biochemistry Properties of the key elements essential for the living organisms. Properties of the main functional groups present in the biomolecules. Aqueous systems- non covalent bonds, properties of water. Principles of bioenergetics and thermodynamics laws. Properties and mechanisms of major biochemical reactions. The eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, and their evolution. 2) Biomolecules Amino acids and proteins Chemical and physical properties of amino acids. Properties and structure of peptide bond. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of proteins, hints of the use of computational analysis in predicting protein conformations. Function and mechanism of action of some proteins: myoglobin, hemoglobin and immunoglobulins. 3) Nucleotides and nucleic acids Chemical and physical properties of nucleotides. Structure of nucleic acids DNA and RNA and their biological roles. Nucleotides as sources and carriers of chemical energy, components of enzymatic cofactors and chemical messengers. 4) Techniques of protein and nucleic acid purification Descriptions of major methods to purify and characterize the proteins both functionally and structurally. Chromatographic Separations; Electrophoresis. 5) Carbohydrates Chemical and physical properties of monosaccharide building blocks (classifications and stereochemistry), disaccharides, structural and energy storage polysaccharides glycosaminoglycans, glycoproteins and their biological roles. 6) Lipids Chemical and physical properties and functions of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. triacylglycerols, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, sterols, eicosanoids, steroids and vitamins. 7) Biological membranes and transport Composition, architecture, properties and dynamism of biological membranes. Description of some membrane proteins and active or passive solute transport across the membrane. 8) Enzymes and enzymatic kinetic General properties and classification of enzymes. The activation energy and reaction coordinate. Definition and determination of enzyme kinetic parameters: Michaelis-Menten e Lineweaver-Burk equations. Enzyme inhibition mechanisms. Allosteric regulation of enzymes. Function and molecular mechanism of some enzyme; Lysozyme.
Prerequisites
Know the basics of Chemistry and Biology, possibly having already taken the exams in previous years.
Books
Fundamentals of Biochemistry ( Voet) Byochemistry ( Stryer) Principles of Biochemistry ( Lehninger)
Frequency
The student must attend as per the degree program.
Exam mode
Interview at the end of the course to verify the acquired knowledge of general biochemistry. To pass the exam, the student must demonstrate that he/she has acquired at least sufficient knowledge by being able to describe the chemical-physical properties of the main biomolecules: amino acids, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids. Explain the molecular bases of bioenergetics and the main laws of thermodynamics applied to biological systems. Understand the organization and function of biological membranes and the mechanisms of solute transport. Understand the role and function of enzymes, including enzyme kinetics, mechanisms of inhibition and allosteric regulation. To obtain scores above the minimum, the student must demonstrate a greater degree of knowledge of all the topics covered in the course and be able to connect them in a logical, coherent and linguistically appropriate way.
Lesson mode
Frontal teaching lasting two hours, where the parts of the program will be explained using technical aids such as PC, internet, video.
  • Lesson code10602990
  • Academic year2024/2025
  • CourseMolecular Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Computer Science for Pharmaceutical Applications
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year2nd year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDBIO/10
  • CFU6
  • Subject areaDiscipline Biologiche e Morfologiche