Salta ai contenuti. | Salta alla navigazione

Strumenti personali

STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS OF BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES

Academic year and teacher
If you can't find the course description that you're looking for in the above list, please see the following instructions >>
Versione italiana
Academic year
2022/2023
Teacher
GIANLUCA AGUIARI
Credits
9
Didactic period
Primo Semestre
SSD
BIO/10

Training objectives

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 28121 - BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
BIOCHEMISTRY
Study of protein structure and function; energy metabolism, synthesis of biological molecules.
The student must be able to apply the knowledge gained to biochemical and physiological processes.

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53647 - PROPEDEUTICA BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
PROPEDEUTIC BIOCHEMISTRY
The student should learn the general principles that govern the chemical and physical chemical processes, as well as the main chemical characteristics of organic compounds that are present in biological molecules. The student will learn the basics for understanding the key biochemical processes aimed in particular to energy metabolism, synthesis of biological macromolecules and the function of proteins.
The student must be able to apply the knowledge gained to biochemical and physiological processes.

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53649 - LABORATORIO DI BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
BIOCHEMISTRY LABORATORY
- In depth knowledge of the meaning of concentration of a solution and its calculation.
- Ability to apply the acquired knowledge to situations that may rise during the normal laboratory activity.
- Knowledge of the main techniques employed in a biochemistry lab.

Prerequisites

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 28121 - BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
Knowledge in general chemistry, propedeutic biochemistry and cell biology

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53647 - PROPEDEUTICA BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
PROPEDEUTIC BIOCHEMISTRY
Basic knowledge of mathematics. Elementary knowledge about the structure of the matter and basic knowledge of nomenclature of chemical compounds.

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53649 - LABORATORIO DI BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
Basic knowledge of math and of chemistry

Course programme

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 28121 - BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
Protein structure and function. Haemoglobin and oxygen transport.
Outline on enzymatic kinetic. Biological membranes. ATP structure and methabolism of carbohydrates. Glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. Krebs cycle. Electron chain transport. Pentose phosphate way. Glycogen and fatty acid methabolism. Aminoacid deamination and urea cycle.

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53647 - PROPEDEUTICA BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
PROPEDEUTIC BIOCHEMISTRY
General Chemistry: Atomic structure and radioactivity. The periodic table of elements and chemical bonds. The states of matter: gas laws, absolute temperature; vapor pressure. Notions of thermodynamics. Homogeneous and heterogeneous systems, solutions, properties of water, solubility of gases, colligative properties of solution, osmotic pressure and osmolarity. Notions on chemical kinetics, catalysts, chemical equilibrium, Le Chatelier’s principle. Acids and bases: definition, dissociation of water and pH, strong acids and weak acids, salt hydrolysis, buffer solutions, solubility product. Redox reactions: oxidation number, the battery, Nernst equation.
Organic chemistry. Carbon, hybridization of the orbitals and shape of the molecules. Isomerism: structural, functional group, cis-trans isomerism, conformational isomerism, configurational isomerism. Mechanisms of organic reactions: radical reactions, electrophilic and nucleophilic. Factors influencing organic reactions: inductive effects, electron delocalization and aromatic structures. The main functional groups. chemical characteristics of the main classes of compounds: hydrocarbons, alkyl halides, alcohols and Thioalcohols, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and acyl derivatives, amines.
Physical-chemical properties of sugars and lipids. simple and complex sugars, glycosidic bond, derivatives of sugars such as sugar alcohol, sugar acids, amino sugars. Glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans. Triglycerides, phospholipids, sphingolipids and derivatives of cholesterol. Structure and function of steroid hormones. Physical-chemical properties of amino acids, isoelectric point and neurotransmitters derived from amino acids. Structure and protein levels, peptide bond, protein denaturation. Examples of functional proteins.

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53649 - LABORATORIO DI BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
The "Biochemistry Laboratory" course is theoretical and practical.
The lectures focus on the following topics:
Differences between heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures. Definition of the different methods to express the concentration of a solution. Main techniques used in a biochemistry laboratory: centrifugation, spectrophotometry, chromatography, electrophoresis.
The practical tutorial will focus on the verification of the Lambert-Beer law, through the preparation of solutions of known concentration.

Didactic methods

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 28121 - BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
The course consists of classroom lectures with the possibility for the student to intervene with direct questions. Each lesson provides a brief summary of the previous lesson and a time reserved for questions of clarification on the subject. After a cycle of related lectures a general review will be performed.

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53647 - PROPEDEUTICA BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
PROPEDEUTIC BIOCHEMISTRY
lectures + exercises
General chemistry: frontal lectures and/or e-learning
Organic Chemistry: Lectures

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53649 - LABORATORIO DI BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
The course is organized as follows:
Frontal lectures and/or e-learning covering stoichiometric problems about concentrations and dilution of solutions.
Two guided tutorials in the lab where the students will prepare different kinds of solutions and apply some techniques explained during the frontal lectures.

Learning assessment procedures

PROPEDEUTIC BIOCHEMISTRY
Part about the program of ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: oral exam has an average duration of about 20-25 minutes and consists normally of three questions, which evaluates the completeness, depth, the clarity and the ability to link, rigor and communication skills.
GENERAL CHEMISTRY:
The learning will be evaluated though the administration of two open questions for an exam time of about 30 minutes.
BIOCHEMISTRY
During the lessons, the teacher checks the learning abilities and individual communication skills of students through simple questions. The ongoing testing of knowledge and understanding will consist of one written test with two open questions for a time of one hour. The trial will be held at the end of the course. Under evaluation, the teacher will take into account the clarity, precision and the ability to link the individual topics.
The evaluation obtained in the Biochemistry module contributes (weighted average) to the final vote of the integrated course Structure and function of biological molecules.
LABORATORY OF BIOCHEMISTRY
The learning assessement will be carried out by the administration of a multiple choice test composed of 15 questions each with 4 possible answers (only one is correct), about the arguments explained during frontal lectures. There will be a more complex problem for the lode. A correct answer scores 2 point, blank or incorrect answers score 0 points.
The FINAL SCORE is derived from averaged mean oh the results obtained in each module exam.

Reference texts

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 28121 - BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
The teacher makes available the pdf files of educational material projected to class. The following book is recommend for the study:
Lehninger, D.L.Nelson and MM Cox, Introduction to Biochemistry, Zanichelli

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53647 - PROPEDEUTICA BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
PROPEDEUTIC BIOCHEMISTRY
David L.Nelson Michael M.Cox, Introduzione alla biochimica di Lehninger, VI edizione italiana a cura di Edon Melloni
The professor makes available the pdf files of educational material projected to class.
The following book is recommend for the study of General chemistry:
E. Santaniello, M. Alberghina, M. Coletta, F. Malatesta, S. Marini
Chimica Propedeutica alle scienze Bio-mediche, Ed. Piccin

------------------------------------------------------------
Modulo: 53649 - LABORATORIO DI BIOCHIMICA
------------------------------------------------------------
Educational material provided by the teacher