BIOCHIMICA GENERALE E BIOCHIMICA CLINICA APPLICATA ALLE BIOTECNOLOGIE A - L

Module BIOCHIMICA GENERALE

Provide students with a solid understanding of: structure, function and regulation of biological macromolecules, main metabolic pathways and interconnections of glucose, lipid and amino acid interest, degradation and recovery of purine and pyrimidine bases, mechanisms and regulation of enzyme activities.

Teaching is delivered through lectures: these mainly involve the frontal presentation of the topics in power point format by the teacher with reference to the texts adopted and recently published scientific works. Intermediate tests could be administered during the course, if requested by students, as a check on the level of study achieved.

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

Oral exam on topics developed during the course: the student must demonstrate adequate knowledge and interpretative competence (evaluation criterion: quality of the contents), ability to connect and elaborate contents (evaluation criterion: ability to report examples), as well as expository ability (evaluation criterion: technical language property that must be relevant, clear and correct). For the assessment of learning, the work carried out during the hours of practice / tutoring will also be taken into consideration, i.e. the in-depth seminars, reports, papers and individual research. The evaluation of the test is expressed out of thirty
 
Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it.

Information for students with disabilities and / or SLD: To guarantee equal opportunities and in compliance with the laws in force, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and / or dispensatory measures, based on the teaching objectives and specifications needs. It is also possible to contact the CInAP contact person (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and / or SLD) of the Department of Biomedical and Biotechonological Sciences.
 

Carbohydrates - Review of structure and function, monosaccharides, disaccharides. Homopolysaccharides and heteropolysaccharides. Glycoconjugates (proteoglycans, glycoproteins, glycolipids). Lipids - Review of structure and function. Reserve lipids. Structural lipids: glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids (sphingophospholipids, glycosphingolipids). Sterols. Lipoproteins. Purine and pyrimidine bases - Review of structure and function. Nucleosides and nucleotides. Amino acids - Review of structure and function. Peptide bond and its characteristics. Proteins - Structure and function of proteins. Primary structure. Secondary structures: alpha-helix, beta-sheet. The Ramachandran chart. Tertiary structure. Quaternary structure. Fibrous proteins - Collagen and elastin. Globular proteins - The hemoproteins involved in the transport of gases (O2, CO2): myoglobin and hemoglobin: structures and function. Bohr effect, saturation curves, Hill graph, homotropic and heterotropic interactions of hemoglobin. The effect of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. Heterogeneity of circulating hemoglobin: methemoglobin, fetal hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin. Methemoglobin reductase, glutathione (GSH) and NADPH for maintaining hemoglobin function. G-6-PDH deficiency, hemoglobin oxidation, malaria. Abnormal hemoglobins. Hemoglobin S and polymerization mechanism. Biochemical catalysis. - Chemical catalysts and biological catalysts. Enzymes: classification. Coenzymes and vitamins. Michaelis-Menten equation. Km, Vmax, number of turnover, Kcat / Km. The graph of reciprocal doubles. Effect of pH and temperature on enzyme activity. Irreversible inhibition. Reversible inhibition: competitive, non-competitive, in-competitive and mixed. Effect of different types of inhibitors on the graph of reciprocal doubles. Multi-enzyme complexes. Allosteric regulation of enzyme activity. Introduction to metabolism: general organization - Concept of metabolic pathways and maps. Degradative pathways (catabolism) and biosynthetic pathways (anabolism). Bioenergetics. Energetically charged molecules. Use of biochemical energy in the cell. Biochemical roles of NADH and NADPH. General mechanisms of metabolism regulation - hormonal control, feedback regulation, allosteric enzymes, zymogens, isozymes, cascade amplification, compartmentalization, gene regulation. Biochemical reactions of glycolysis - Regulation of glycolysis: hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, GAPDH, pyruvate kinase. Oxidation of pyruvic acid: the multienzymatic complex of pyruvic dehydrogenase and its reaction mechanism. Pyruvic acid reduction: lactic dehydrogenase. Degradation of glycogen - Glycogen phosphorylase and its regulation. Hepatic glycogen and muscle glycogen. Reactions of the citric acid cycle - Regulation of the cycle. Reactions of the pentose phosphate pathway - Oxidative phosphorylation - The mitochondria as an energy center of the cell. The redox potential scales of molecules of biological importance. Machinery for electron transport: structure and functions of complexes I, II, III and IV. The iron-sulfur centers. The Q cycle in the complex III. Trans-membrane complexes and proton transport. Electrochemical potentials in electron transport. Oxygen utilization. The ATP synthase: structure and mechanism of action. Reactions of fatty acids beta-oxidation  -Activation of lipolysis and transport of free fatty acids. Activation and transport in the mitochondria: acyl-CoA synthetase, carnitine and the acylcarnitine-carnitine transporter. Beta-oxidation reactions. Control and energy yield. Ketogenesis. Metabolism of amino acids: transamination, reaction mechanism. Shuttle systems: metabolic functions and roles. Oxidative deamination of amino acids. - Urea cycle. Ammonia activation: carbamyl phosphate synthetase. The reactions of the cycle . Degradation of nucleotides - Catabolism and recovery pathways of purines and pyrimidines. Degradation of heme. Biosynthetic pathways. Gluconeogenesis - The reaction of carboxylation of pyruvate and gluconeogenesis reactions. Relationships between gluconeogenesis and glycolysis. Glycogen biosynthesis. Biosynthesis of heme. Fatty acid biosynthesis. Cholesterol biosynthesis.

1) D. Voet, J.G. Voet, Fondamenti di Biochimica, Ed. Zanichelli
2) Matthews, Van Holde et al., Biochimica, Ed. Piccin
3) Nelson, M.M.Cox, Principi di Biochimica di Lehninger, Ed. Zanichelli

4) Campbell & Farrell, Biochimica, EdiSES
5) Garrett e Grisham, Principi di Biochimica, Ed. Piccin

6) Tinti B., Chimica organica – Biochimica – Biotecnologie- 2020, ed. Piccin

7) David Sadava David M. Hillis H. Craig Heller May R. Berenbaum , From Biochemistry to Biotechnology- 2014 Zanichelli