- Docente: Laura Landi
- Credits: 10
- SSD: BIO/10
- Language: Italian
- Moduli: Laura Landi (Modulo 1) Diana Fiorentini (Modulo 2)
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: Long cycle 2nd degree programme in Pharmacy (cod. 0039)
Course contents
BIOCHEMISTRY – A.A. 2006–2007
Professor: Laura Landi
Amino acids and Proteins. Properties and stereochemistry of amino acids. Primary structure of proteins. Secondary structure. Fibrous and globular proteins. Protein folding. Tertiary and Quaternary structure.
Hemoglobin and Myoglobin. Hemoglobin and myoglobin functions. Structure and mechanism. Allosteric regulation of hemoglobin. Abnormal hemoglobins.
Mechanism of enzyme action. Enzyme properties. Catalytic mechanisms. Enzyme kinetics. Inhibition. Enzyme inhibitors as drugs. Regulation of enzymatic activity. Coenzymes: NAD and NADP, FAD and FMN, TPP, CoA, lipoate, byotin, pyridoxal phosphate, tetrahydrofolate, ATP, UTP, GTP, CTP.
Sugars. Monosaccharides. Disaccharides. Polysaccharides.
Lipids. Lipid classification. Fatty acids. Triacylglycerols. Glycerophospholipids. Sphingolipids. Cholesterol. Vitamins A, D, E. Vitamin K and blood clotting.
Biological membranes. Structure and properties of biological membranes. Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Antioxidants. Thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanisms of membrane transport. Facilitative transport and ATP-driven active transport.
Signal transduction. Ligands and receptors. G proteins. cAMP and phosphatidylinositol pathways. Vitamin A and the mechanism of vision. Tyrosine kinase-based signaling.
Bioenergetic and metabolism. Metabolism overview. The role of ATP. Redox reactions. Thermodynamics of metabolic control. Coupled reactions.
Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondrial transport system. Components of the electron transport chain. Energy coupling hypothesis and proton gradient generation. ATP synthesis. Control of oxidative phosphorylation.
Carbohydrate catabolism. The glycolytic pathway and its regulation. Glycogen breakdown and its regulation. The pentose phosphate pathway. Acetyl-Coenzyme A synthesis. Citric acid cycle: enzymes, regulation and amphibolic nature.
Lipid catabolism. Fatty acid oxidation and its regulation. Ketone bodies.
Aminoacid catabolism. Transamination. Glutamate dehydrogenase. Nitrogen transport from tissues (glutammine) or muscles (alanine) to the liver. Urea cycle and its regulation.
Carbohydrate anabolism. Gluconeogenesis and its regulation. Cori cycle. Glycogen synthesis and its regulation. Effects of insulin, glucagon and epinephrine on carbohydrate metabolism.
Lipid anabolism. Fatty acid biosynthesis. Elongases and desaturases. Synthesis of triacylglycerols and phospholipids. Cholesterol biosynthesis. Effects of insulin, glucagon and epinephrine on lipid metabolism.
Structure and metabolism of nucleic acids
Professor: Diana Fiorentini
Nucleotides and nucleic acids. Structure and functions of nucleotides. Double helical DNA. Forces stabilizing DNA structure. Supercoiled DNA. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cromosomes. Structures of tRNA, rRNA, mRNA. Central dogma of molecular biology.
DNA replication in prokaryotes. DNA polymerases and mechanism of replication. Fidelity of replication. DNA damages.
Transcription in prokaryotes. Genes and promotors. RNA polymerase and mechanism of transcription. Control of transcription in prokaryotes. Reverse transcriptase.
Translation in prokaryotes. The role of RNA in protein synthesis. Transfer RNA and its aminoacylation. The genetic code. Ribosomes and mechanism of translation in prokaryotes. Posttranscriptional processing.
Recombinant DNA technology. Restriction endonucleases. Cloning vectors. Construction of a recombinant DNA molecule.
Links to further information
Office hours
See the website of Laura Landi
See the website of Diana Fiorentini