BIOCHIMICA DELL'ATTIVITA' MOTORIA
Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: VINCENZO BRAMANTIExpected Learning Outcomes
The course aims to understand the biochemical and biomolecular mechanisms underlying cellular functions and regulating our body's metabolic activities, with particular emphasis on muscle energy metabolism.
Special emphasis will be placed on the structure/function relationships of the main classes of macromolecules, as well as to their metabolic involvment and cellular activity.
Course Structure
Required Prerequisites
The course aims to explain the biochemical mechanisms regulating the complex role of the metabolic activities, with particular emphasis on muscle energy metabolism. The course requires minimum basic requirements to successfully complete lectures and the final examination. Students need to know the fundamental concepts of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Propaedeutic Biochemistry, as well as Cell Biology. The student must, also, have formally passed the prerequisites required by the study plan and the regulations of the degree course.
Attendance of Lessons
Mandatory attendance according to the attendance percentages dictated by the Regulations of the CdL Scienze Motorie.
Detailed Course Content
TOPICS: AMINO ACIDS,
PEPTIDES, AND PROTEINS: The structure of amino acids. The peptide bond.
Structural organization of proteins: primary, secondary, tertiary, and
quaternary structure. Globular proteins: albumin and chromoproteins. Fibrous
proteins: collagen, elastin, and keratin. Immunoglobulins and plasma
lipoproteins. PLASMA PROTEINS: Albumin and its main functions. Gamma globulins.
Plasma lipoproteins: metabolism and physiological role. Immunoglobulins.
OXYGEN-CARRYING CHROMOPROTEINS: The structure of heme. Myoglobin: structure and
function. Similarities and differences with hemoglobin. Hemoglobin: structure
and function. The transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The Bohr effect.
2,3-bisphosphoglycerate and its physiological role. Buffering function of
hemoglobin4 MUSCLE PROTEINS: Muscle tissue. Muscle proteins. Fibrocells,
myofibrils, and filaments. Actin, myosin, tropomyosin, troponins. ENZYMES AND
ENZYMATIC CATALYSIS: Enzymes as catalysts. Rate of enzymatic reactions. Enzyme
cofactors. Classification of enzymes. Allosteric enzymes. Transport proteins.
Oxidations and reductions. Regulation of enzymatic activity6 GENE TRANSCRIPTION
AND PROTEIN SYNTHESIS: DNA and RNA: Transcription. Post-transcriptional
modifications of RNA. Translation. Post-translational rearrangement of
polypeptides. Protein degradation. Regulation of gene expression during
exercise and training. Resistance training. Resistance training. METABOLISM:
REGULATION AND ADAPTATION TO EXERCISE AND TRAINING ENERGY SYSTEMS AND
BIOENERGETICS: Energy requirements of skeletal muscle: Structure of skeletal
muscle. Myosin and muscle contraction. Sites of ATP utilization in muscle.
Energy-rich phosphates. Energy systems: Oxidative phosphorylation. Glycolysis.
The phosphocreatine system. Muscle metabolism during exercise. Bioenergetics: The
concept of free energy. Quantitative values of free energy. Free energy in
cells. Muscle fatigue and muscle energy balance. CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM:
Carbohydrates. Cellular glucose uptake. Glucose phosphorylation. Glycogen
metabolism. Lactate metabolism. Oxidation of cytoplasmic NADH. Gluconeogenesis.
Pentose phosphate pathway. Signaling pathways. OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION:
Overview of metabolism. Mitochondria. General mechanism of oxidative
phosphorylation. Citric acid cycle. Electron transport chain. Coupled oxidative
phosphorylation.
Textbook Information
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Students will take the exam during the exam sessions scheduled by the Presidency of CdL.
The exam committee is composed of the professor in charge of the course and other professors or experts in the field.
The written exam consists of a list of 31 multiple-choice questions (one correct and the remaining incorrect).
To pass the exam, students must successfully answer at least 18 of the 31 questions.
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
1. Protein Structure and Function of Plasma Proteins
2. Energy Requirements of Skeletal Muscle
3. Mechanism of Action of Hormones
4. Metabolism During Exercise
5. Cori Cycle