- Docente: Anna Tinti
- Credits: 3
- SSD: BIO/10
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Biomedical Laboratory techniques (cod. 8484)
Learning outcomes
The main objective of this course of Biochemistry is to provide basic knowledge on the following items:
- the main classes of biomolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymes;
- the mechanism used by biomolecules to permit cells and tissues to manage;
- the bioenergetic principles;
- the metabolism of the main biomolecules in different tissues and organs.
Course contents
Propedeutical Biochemistry (very short hints)
Main class of inorganic and bioinorganic compounds: elements, hydrides, oxides and their derivatives (acids and bases), salts and their nomenclature.
Oxidation state. Redox reactions. Standard reduction potentials.
Solutions. Properties of electrolytic and not electrolytic solutions. Expressing concentration of solutions.
Colligative properties, in particular osmotic pressure and its biological importance. Isotonic solutions.
Chemical reactions: kinetics. Chemical equilibrium. Equilibrium constants. Factors influencing the chemical equilibrium. Le Chatelier's principle.
The pH concept. pH scale. Acid-base theories. Ionic equilibria in aqueous solution: dissociation of acids and bases. P olyprotic acids. Salts. Buffer solutions and the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. Biological buffers.
Main classes of organic compounds: aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, alkyl halogenides, alcohols, phenols, amines, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and their derivatives (esters, amides, anhydrides).
Structure and properties of the main biologically important organic compounds. Optically active compounds. Carbohydrates: monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. Lipids: fatty acids, mono-, di- and tri-glycerides, phospholipids. Purines and pirimidines. Nucleosides, nucleotides (AMP, ADP, ATP), polynucleotides: DNA and RNA.
Aminoacids
Distinctive functional groups. Essential and nonessential aminoacids. Classes of aminoacids. The peptide bond.
Proteins
Protein structure and functions. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of proteins. Fibrous and globular proteins: characteristics and functions. Keratins, collagen. Native form. Reversible and irreversible denaturation of proteins.
Myoglobin and hemoglobin
Oxygen and carbon dioxide transport. Allosteric proteins: hemoglobin and its allosteric modulators (H+ , CO2 , 2,3BPG).
Enzymes
General characteristics, distribution and classification of enzymes. Mechanism of enzyme action. Enzyme kinetics: Michaelis-Menten model. Enzyme affinity and efficiency. Enzymatic dosage. Modulation of enzymatic activity: influence of pH and temperature. Allosteric and covalent modulation. Vitamin-derived coenzymes. Enzyme inhibition: antimetabolite drugs. Irreversible enzyme activation. Isozymes and their diagnostic importance.
Bioenergetics
Gibbs free energy: Δ G e Δ G'°. “High energy” bonds. “High energy” species (1,3 BPG, PEP, phosphocreatine and ATP). ATP: metabolic role and synthesis mechanism ( mitochondrial ATP production, substrate level phosphorylation). Energetically coupled reactions.
Metabolism
Essential concepts on metabolism: catabolic and anabolic pathways. Importance of ATP and reduced coenzymes for the catabolic and anabolic pathways.
Carbohydrate metabolism : digestion of carbohydrates; glycogen metabolism; glycolysis and substrate level phosphorylation for ATP synthesis. Piruvate metabolism: lactate formation and oxidative decarboxylation and acetyl coenzyme A formation. Krebs cycle. Pentose phosphate cycle ( hints) . Gluconeogenesis.
Lipid metabolism . Digestion of lipids. Plasmatic lipoproteins. Triglycerides catabolism and beta-oxidation of fatty acids. Lipogenesis. Ketogenesis. Cholesterol metabolism and functions. Bile acids and steroid hormones.
Mitochondrial respiratory chain, ATP
production. Chemiosmotic model.
Protein metabolism . Digestion of proteins. Aminoacids degradation. Urea cycle.
Readings/Bibliography
R. Roberti, G. Alunni Bistocchi, C. Antognelli, V.N. Talesa
Biochimica e Biologia per le professioni sanitarie
Seconda Edizione, McGraw Hill, 2013
M. Stefani, N. Taddei
Chimica, Biochimica e Biologia applicata
Seconda Edizione, Zanichelli, 2008
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Assessment methods
Oral examination to assess achievement of the skills detailed in the learning outcomes.
Teaching tools
Teaching material can be downloaded through AMS CAMPUS.
Office hours
See the website of Anna Tinti