BIOCHIMICA
Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: Agatina CAMPISIExpected Learning Outcomes
Provide to the students adequate informations on the major metabolic pathways and biochemical processes occurring in the human body.
Course Structure
Frontal lessons with slide projection will be held. The teaching method is developed to stimulate the students' learning ability on the course program. If the teaching is carried out in mixed mode or remotely, the necessary changes may be included with respect to what is reported in the syllabus.
Information for students with disabilities and/or DSA
To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview, in order to plan any compensatory and/or compensatory measures, based on the educational objectives and specific needs. The student may also contact the CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or DSA) contact teacher of the Department of Drug Sciences and Health, Prof. Santina Chiechio.
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Traduzione del testo
Rileva lingua
Italiano
Inglese
Francese
Inglese
Italiano
Spagnolo
Testo di origine
AMINO ACIDS. Structure, classification, functions, chemical-physical properties of amino acids: solubility, acid-base properties, optical properties.
PEPTIDES AND PROTEINS. Peptide bond. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of proteins. Chemical-physical properties of proteins; molecular weight, isoelectric point, solubility. Denaturation and renaturation of proteins. Protein folding. Protein domain and motif. Fibrous proteins: structure of alpha-keratin, collagen and silk fibroin. Oxygen transporting chromoproteins: myoglobin and hemoglobin; structural and functional differences; factors that influence the binding of hemoglobin to oxygen; allosteric behavior of hemoglobin; role of hemoglobin in the transport of carbon dioxide; buffering action of hemoglobin; physiological forms and pathological variants of hemoglobin.
ENZYMES: Nomenclature and classification. General properties: catalytic capacity, specificity towards the substrate, effect on the activation energy of the reaction. Enzyme cofactors: metal ions and coenzymes. Properties and conformation of the active site, enzyme-substrate interaction models, bonds involved in the formation of the enzyme-substrate complex. Factors that influence the speed of enzymatic reactions. Kinetics of enzymatic reactions: Michaelis-Menten constant. Lineweaver-Burk equation. Enzyme unit, specific activity. Enzyme inhibition. Enzyme regulation mechanisms: regulation of synthesis (induction and repression) and degradation. Regulation of enzymatic activity: covalent modifications of enzymes. Isoenzymes.
VITAMINS. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K, E) and water-soluble (vitamin C and B vitamins).
METABOLISM. Anabolic, catabolic and amphibolic pathways.
CARBON METABOLIME. Review of the structure and properties of the main monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. GLUT transporters. Glycolysis. Lactic and alcoholic fermentation. Gluconeogenesis. Choir cycle. Glucose-alanine cycle. Pentose phosphate shunt. Glycogen metabolism. Metabolism of fructose, mannose and galactose.
TRICARBOSYLIC ACIDS CYCLE. Pyruvate transport into mitochondria. Pyruvic dehydrogenase and mechanism of action.
MITOCHONDRIAL BIOENERGETICS. Oxidation-reduction reactions of biological interest. Transport of metabolites across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Transfer of reducing equivalents from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria (shuttle systems). The respiratory chain and its components. Regulation of respiratory activity. Structure and function of ATP synthase. Uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation. Main inhibitors of the electron transport chain.
LIPIDS METABOLISM. Review of the structures and properties of fatty acids, acylglycerols, phospholipids and cholesterol. Digestion and absorption of lipids. Chylomicrons and plasma lipoproteins. Oxidation of the main classes of fatty acids (even and odd, saturated and unsaturated). Formation of ketone bodies in normal and pathological conditions. Lipogenesis. Cholesterol biosynthesis and its regulation. Diseases resulting from impaired lipid metabolism (dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis).
PROTIDE METABOLISM. Digestion and absorption of proteins. Transamination and decarboxylation of amino acids. Oxidative and non-oxidative deamination. Urea cycle. Oxidative degradation of the carbon skeleton of amino acids.
HEME METABOLISM. Heme biosynthesis and degradation, jaundice, porphyrias.
NUCLEOTIDE METABOLISM. Nucleotide metabolism and its regulation: de novo biosynthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, recovery pathways, uricogenesis. Gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SIGNAL TRANSMISSION. Classification of hormones and cellular receptors. Hormonal signal transduction pathways.
INTEGRATION OF METABOLISM. Metabolic inter-relationships between the various organs.
FREE RADICALS AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS. Definition and physico-chemical characteristics of free radicals, endogenous production, toxicity and defense mechanisms (enzymatic and non-enzymatic).
ETHANOL METABOLISM.
Textbook Information
1. Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. Lehninger's principles of biochemistry. Edition VIII. Ed. Zanichelli.
2. Siliprandi N., Tettamanti G. Medical Biochemistry. Edition IV. Ed. Piccin.
3. Voet D., Voet J.V., Pratt C.W. Fundamentals of Biochemistry. Edition IV. Publisher Zanichelli.
4. Berg J.M., Tymozcho B.J.L, Gatto G.J, Stryer L. Biochemistry. Edition VIII. Publisher Zanichelli.
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amino acids, peptides and proteins. Primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary structure of proteins and stabilizing bonds of these structures. Fibrous and globular proteins. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 3: pag. 73-104. Capitolo 4: pag. 111-141. |
| 2 | Heme Porfirine and heme group. Structure of myoglobin, hemoglobin and globin chains. Classification of globin chains. Hemoglobin and myoglobin oxygen saturation curve. Hemoglobin as an allosteric protein. Structure of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin. Bohr effect; 2.3 BPG. Hemoglobin and blood transport of CO2. Hemoglobin and acid-base balance regulation. Fetal hemoglobin. Molecular basis of hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 5: pag 155-172. |
| 3 | Vitamins and coenzymes. | Siliprandi N. Edizione IV. Ed. Piccin. Capitolo 8 pag 159-205 |
| 4 | Enzymes: definition, distribution, nomenclature, mechanism of action, specificity, affinity, isoenzymes, multi-enzymatic systems. Enzymatic kinetics: catalytic mechanisms, factors that influence the reaction rate, determination of enzymatic activity and the Michaelis-Menten constant. Lineweaver-Burk diagram or diagram of reciprocal doubles. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M.VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 6: pag. 187-234. |
| 5 | Factors affecting enzymatic activity. Enzyme inhibition, enzyme regulation: allosteric, multiple, covalent modifications, association/dissociation, induction. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M.VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 6 pag 224-233. |
| 6 | Energy metabolism: Mitochondrial respiratory chain and its regulation, inhibitors and uncouplers; respiratory control; decoupling. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M.VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 19 pag 685-718. |
| 7 | Nucleic acids: DNA and RNA: structures and functions. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 25 pag 947-1025 |
| 8 | General characteristics of signal transduction. Signal transduction pathways. Seven- transmembrane receptors, G proteins, effector enzymes (adenylate cyclase, phospholipase C), second messengers (cAMP, IP3, DAG, Ca2+). Phosphoinositide cycle. PKA and PKC. Cyclical GMP and NO. Receptors with tyrosine kinase activity. Kinasic cascade. Pathway of MAP kinases. Regulation of transcription by steroid hormones. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 12 pag 429-478. |
| 9 | Metabolic and physiological effects, receptors, signal transduction pathways of the following hormones: insulin, glucagon, adrenaline, cortisol. | Voet D. Capitolo 13 pag 428-468 |
| 10 | Carbohydrate metabolism and its regulation: Digestion and absorption of carbohydrates; glycogenosynthesis, glycogenolysis, glycolysis, Krebs cycle, pentose pathway, gluconeogenesis. Metabolism of glucuronic acid, fructose and galactose. Formation of other monosaccharides from glucose. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 14 pag 533-574. |
| 11 | Lipid metabolism and its regulation: functions and classification of lipids; Transport of blood lipids (plasma lipoproteins); Beta-oxidation, alpha-oxidation and omega-oxidation of saturated fatty acids. Ketogenesis and utilization of ketone bodies. Lipogenesis. Biosynthesis of cholesterol and its regulation; Diseases of impaired lipid metabolism (dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis). | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M..VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitlo 17 pag 625-645 |
| 12 | Protein metabolism and its regulation: transamination, decarboxylation, desamination. Metabolic destiny of ammonia, urea cycle, metabolism of the main amino acids (cysteine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, polyamine, aspartate, glutamate, phenylalanine and thyroxine). | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M.VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 18 pag 651-680. |
| 13 | Heme metabolism: biosynthesis, degradation, jaundice, porphyrias. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M.VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 22 pag 823-852. |
| 14 | Nucleotide metabolism and its regulation: ex novo biosynthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, recovery pathways, uricogenesis. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 22 pag 853-864. |
| 15 | Detoxification processes. Hepatic metabolism of ethanol. Free radicals and defense mechanisms: definition and physicochemical characteristics of radicals, endogenous radical formation and toxicity, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems, pathologies with radical etiology. | Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. VIII. Ed. Zanichelli. Capitolo 13 pag 487-525. |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
The course includes 49 hours of lectures and 14 hours of classroom exercises through presentations and participatory debates among students on research, case studies or topics related to the course topics. The teaching method is developed to stimulate students' learning ability on the course program. If the teaching is carried out in a blended or distance mode, the necessary variations may be included with respect to what is reported in the syllabus.
Information for students with disabilities and/or DSA
To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview, in order to plan any compensatory and/or compensatory measures, based on the educational objectives and specific needs. The student may also contact the CInAP (Active and Participatory Integration Center - Services for Disabilities and/or DSA) contact teacher of the Department, Prof. Giovanna Tropea Garzia and Prof. Anna De Angelis.
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
1. Enzyme kinetics. Glycolysis. Krebs cycle. Beta-oxidation of fatty acids. Fate of ammonia.
2. Hemoglobin and Myoglobin. Glycogeno synthesis and glycogeno lysis. Blood sugar regulation. Deamination.
3. Allosteric enzymes. Gluconeogenesis. Beta-oxidation of fatty acids. Ketogenesis. Transaminases.