Medicine and Surgery - Roma Azienda Ospedaliera Sant'Andrea

Activity type

B_02. Struttura, funzione e metabolismo delle molecole d'interesse biologico, Attività formative affini o integrative

SSD

BIO/10, BIO/10

Year

N/D

Semester

N/D

CFU

7

Hours distribution

72 classroom hours, 12 laboratory hours

Lecturers

MARINA BORRO
GIOVANNA GENTILE

Activity type

B_02. Struttura, funzione e metabolismo delle molecole d'interesse biologico

SSD

BIO/11

Year

2nd year

Semester

2nd semester

CFU

2

Hours distribution

12 classroom hours, 13 laboratory hours

Lecturers

GIOVANNA GENTILE
MAURIZIO SIMMACO

Activity type

C_19. Formazione clinica interdisciplinare e medicina basata sulle evidenze e medicina di precisione, Attività formative affini o integrative

SSD

BIO/10, BIO/10

Year

2nd year

Semester

2nd semester

CFU

5

Hours distribution

24 classroom hours, 36 laboratory hours

Lecturers

MARINA BORRO
GIOVANNA GENTILE

Activity type

B_02. Struttura, funzione e metabolismo delle molecole d'interesse biologico

SSD

BIO/11

Year

N/D

Semester

N/D

CFU

1

Hours distribution

6 classroom hours, 6 seminars hours

Lecturers

MAURIZIO SIMMACO

The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology course has two main objectives:
1. To provide medical students with the fundamentals needed to understand the physical, chemical, and biological context in which the biochemical reactions underlying physiological and pathological mechanisms occur. In this context, particular emphasis is placed on understanding the mechanisms of metabolic integration and regulation.
2. To prepare students to understand the principles and methodologies of diagnosis and treatment used in Personalized and Precision Medicine. To achieve this objective, particular attention is paid to stimulating student interest and critical thinking, developing the various topics in a logical and sequential manner, and highlighting the multiple connections between basic biochemical topics and therapeutic personalized strategies currently in use or under development.

The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology course aims at two main objectives:
1. to provide students with the fundamental elements to frame the physical, chemical, and biological context in which the biochemical reactions underlying physiological and pathological mechanisms occur. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the mechanisms of integration and regulation of metabolism.
2. to prepare students to understand the principles and methodologies of diagnosis and treatment used in Personalized and Precision Medicine. To achieve this goal, special effort is made to stimulate the student's interest and critical thinking, developing the various topics in a logical and sequential manner, and highlighting the multiple connections between basic biochemical topics and the therapeutic personalization strategies currently in use or under development.

Specific objectives.
Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course, students must have understood the structure-function relationships of the main biological molecules; the essential biochemical mechanisms for proper metabolic functionality; the fundamentals of the main biochemical and biomolecular investigative technologies; the basic principles and methods applicable to implementing a Personalized Medicine approach with the patient.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, students will be able to apply knowledge of the essential biochemical mechanisms for metabolic functionality to the characterization of physiological and pathological mechanisms; they will be able to understand the principles and methodologies of diagnosis and treatments specific to personalized and precision medicine.
Judgment autonomy: particular effort will be made to stimulate the student's interest and critical thinking, developing the various topics in a logical and sequential manner, and highlighting the multiple connections between basic biochemical topics and therapeutic personalization strategies.
Communication skills: students will acquire the ability to effectively use the communication tools typical of scientific publications and presentations. These skills are acquired through an emphasis on scientific terminology and technical rhetoric.
Learning ability: students will acquire transversal learning skills common to the logic of scientific investigation in the biomedical field.
The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology course aims at two main objectives:
1. to provide students with the fundamental elements to frame the physical, chemical, and biological context in which the biochemical reactions underlying physiological and pathological mechanisms occur. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the mechanisms of integration and regulation of metabolism.
2. to prepare students to understand the principles and methodologies of diagnosis and treatment used in Personalized and Precision Medicine. To achieve this goal, special effort is made to stimulate the student's interest and critical thinking, developing the various topics in a logical and sequential manner, and highlighting the multiple connections between basic biochemical topics and the therapeutic personalization strategies currently in use or under development.

Specific objectives.
Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course, students must have understood the structure-function relationships of the main biological molecules; the essential biochemical mechanisms for proper metabolic functionality; the fundamentals of the main biochemical and biomolecular investigative technologies; the basic principles and methods applicable to implementing a Personalized Medicine approach with the patient.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, students will be able to apply knowledge of the essential biochemical mechanisms for metabolic functionality to the characterization of physiological and pathological mechanisms; they will be able to understand the principles and methodologies of diagnosis and treatments specific to personalized and precision medicine.
Judgment autonomy: particular effort will be made to stimulate the student's interest and critical thinking, developing the various topics in a logical and sequential manner, and highlighting the multiple connections between basic biochemical topics and therapeutic personalization strategies.
Communication skills: students will acquire the ability to use the communication tools typical of scientific publications and presentations effectively. These skills are acquired through an emphasis on scientific terminology and technical rhetoric.
Learning ability: students will acquire transversal learning skills common to the logic of scientific investigation in the biomedical field.

To understand the topics of the course, students must have mastery of the chemistry concepts provided in the first-year course CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMICAL PROPEDUTICS, as well as basic knowledge of mathematics, algebra, and geometry.

- Inorganic elements. Water. Biological buffer systems. Micronutrients.
- Proteins. Amino acids: classification, properties, dissociation, isoelectric point. Peptide bond. Natural peptides. Neuropeptides. Neurotransmitters. Glutathione. Levels of structural organization in proteins. Ramanchandran plot. Strategies in protein analysis and purification (chromatography, electrophoresis, spectrophotometer, fluorimeter). Denaturation of proteins. Collagen, elastin. Hemoproteins, hemoglobins and myoglobin. Hemoglobinopathies. Plasma proteins. - Biochemical basis of blood coagulation (notes on the most relevant coagulation disorders).
- Control mechanisms of oxidative stress.
- Carbohydrates. Mono-, oligo- and polysaccharides. Glycoproteins. Proteoglycans.
- Lipids. Classification, biological role. Fatty acids and neutral fats. Phosphoglycerolipids and sphyngolipids. Steroids. Cholesterol and derivatives. Eicosanoids. Lipoproteins.
- Biological membranes. Structure, receptors, transporters.
- Molecular mechanism of vision.
- Iron adsorption and metabolism.
- Vitamins. Natural sources. Functions. Active forms. Hypo- and hypervitaminosis. Antioxidants.
- Enzymes. Thermodynamic aspects of catalysis. Enzyme kinetics. Catalytic mechanisms and regulation of enzyme activity. Inhibitors. Classification of enzymes. Coenzymes. Isoenzymes.
- Metabolism of carbohydrates. Digestion and absorption. Glycolysis. Glycogenolysis and glycogen synthesis. Gluconeogenesis. Pentose phosphate pathway.
- Lipid metabolism. Digestion and absorption. Bile salts. Fatty acids catabolism. Ketone bodies. Fatty acids biosynthesis. Biosynthesis and catabolism of cholesterol.
- Oxidation of pyruvate and acetyl-CoA. Krebs cycle.
- Biological redox reactions. Electron carriers. Respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation. ATP and proton pumps. Inhibitors and uncoupling agents. Energetic yield of carbohydrate and lipid catabolism.
- Metabolism of proteins. Digestion and absorption, proteolytic enzymes. Amino acid metabolism: transamination, deamination, decarboxylation. Biogenic amines. Urea synthesis.
- Metabolism of biliary salts.
- Biosynthesis and catabolism of heme. Biosynthesis and catabolism of purines and pyrimidines.
- Peptide hormones. Chemistry and mechanism of action. Receptors and second messengers.
- Steroid hormones. Chemistry, properties, mechanism of action.
- Nucleic acids. Structure and function. Molecular recognition: protein-nucleic acid interactions. Molecular biology techniques: restriction enzymes, recombinant DNA, cloning, polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing (Maxam-Gilbert, Sanger, pyrosequencing, next generation sequencing). Hints about gene expression analysis.
- Personalized Medicine. Functional genomics: data from the human genome project. Introduction to drug metabolism: basic mechanisms of drug-drug interactions and implications for drug response. Phase I and Phase II drug metabolizing enzymes. DNA polymorphisms and their impact on drug response (pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics). Utilization of public knowledgebase for preventive evaluation of drug-drug interactions and drug-protein interactions according to the patient’s genotype. Main available strategies in Personalize Medicine: oncology (characterization of both germinal and somatic gene variants for personalized therapy prescription), psychiatrics, poly-treated patients, cardiovascular diseased patient. Epigenomics. Introduction to mass spectrometry technologies and their impact upon clinical practice and personalize medicine: functional assays, therapeutic drug monitoring and metabolomics.
Objectives of interactive teaching activity (to be carried out in the laboratory, 5 student/group)
Utilization of public knowledgebase for preventive evaluation of drug-drug interactions and drug-protein interactions according to the patient’s genotype.

Devlin TM, BIOCHIMICA con aspetti clinici, EdiSES, 5a edizione in poi
Lieberman-Marks, BIOCHIMICA MEDICA, UN APPROCCIO CLINICO, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, 2010
Murray et al., HARPER'S BIOCHIMICA ILLUSTRATA, EMSI Roma, 2010
Nelson-Cox I PRINCIPI DI BIOCHIMICA di Lehninger, Zanichelli

Course materials are available on the webpage https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=2151
section: "Attività dei docenti"

Module: Biochemistry
N/D
Module: Molecular biology
N/D
Module: Biochemistry
N/D
Module: Molecular biology
N/D

Frontal lessons according to the academic calendar published on the Medicine and Surgery website. They will be two-hour lessons, and attendance is mandatory. Students must sign the attendance register at the beginning of each lesson. To take the final exam, students must have attended at least 67% of the course.

Attendance is mandatory. To take the final exam, students must have attended at least 67% of the course.

Written and oral exam for credit acquisition. To support students in exam’s preparation, all questions and exercises used in past exams are available online at the e-learning platform: https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=2151

To support students in exam’s preparation, all questions and exercises used in past exams are available online at the e-learning platform: https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=2151

Module: Biochemistry
N/D
Module: Molecular biology
N/D
Module: Biochemistry
N/D
Module: Molecular biology
N/D