BIOCHIMICA GENERALE E DELLA NUTRIZIONE

General Biochemistry and Biochemistry of Nutrition: The course aims to describe the main characteristics of the macromolecules of biological interest and to provide students with the cognitive tools for understanding the biochemical peculiarities of liver, muscle, adipose tissue, kidney, blood and of the existing metabolic interrelations among the main tissues. In addition, the course also provides the basis for understanding the main metabolic dysfunctions based on nutrition.

Frontal teaching, power-point lessons, exercises and cooperative learning.

1) General introduction to the course of General Biochemistry and Biochemistry of Nutrition.

2) Amino Acids and Proteins: Structures, properties, functions and food sources. Hemoglobin and myoglobin.

3) Enzymes: definition, distribution, nomenclature, mechanism of action, specificity, affinity, isoenzymes. Enzymatic kinetics. Enzymatic regulation.

4) Carbohydrates: definition, functions, nomenclature and food sources.

5) Lipids: definition, functions, nomenclature and food sources.

6) Nucleic acids: structures and functions. Protein synthesis.

7) Apoptosis and necrosis.

8) Catabolism and Anabolism

9) Cellular communication and hormones: receptor classification, molecular mechanism of action of hormones, signal transduction molecules, second messengers, signal translation paths.

10) Energy function of food and homeostasis of body weight: plastic and energetic foods.

11) Vitamins in the feeding: water-soluble and liposoluble vitamins.

12) Glycolic metabolism: glycolysis, Krebs cycle and pentose pathway.

13) Lipid metabolism: de novo biosynthesis of fatty acids, β-oxidation.

14) Protein metabolism: metabolic fate of nitrogen.

15) Metabolic regulation in the feeding-fasting cycle: gluconeogenesis, glyceroneogenesis, glycogenosynthesis, glycogenolysis, ketone bodies.

16) Alcoholic beverages and metabolic alterations.

16) Antioxidants in food and the role of radicals.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

1) Leuzzi U., Bellocco E. e Barreca D. Biochimica della Nutrizione, Ed. Zanichelli

2) Nelson D.L. e Michael M. Cox M.M. I Principi Di Biochimica di Lehninger, Ed. Zanichelli.

3) Siliprandi N. e Tettamanti G. Biochimica Medica, Ed. Piccin.

4) Voet D., Voet J.C. e Pratt C.W. Fondamenti di Biochimica, Ed. Zanichelli.

5) Sorrenti V. e Vanella L. Aspetti Molecolari dell’Apoptosi e Ruolo Fisiopatologico, Ed. Piccin.

http://studium.unict.it/dokeos/2018/