INTRO TO BIOCHEMISTRY

CHEM 227

EVALUATION

Occasional Quick Quizes, 3 tests, Final, Oral presentation, molecular web page

 

SYLLABUS

OVERVIEW AND REVIEW

SECRETS OF LIFE: Introductions to each other and to the themes and concepts of Biochemistry: Structure and function, control coordination and communication, energy usage and coupling.

PROTEINS

INTRO. TO PROTEINS: purposes, structures and how weak forces and water properties form the basis for structure and catalysis. Molecules R Us and CHIME on the web

MEET THE AMINO ACIDS: R groups and behavior, pH and pKa, Hemoglobin as example of importance of pH also neurotransmitters GABA & alcohol, vitamins K & C, aspartame

PROTEIN STRUCTURE peptides, a-helices, b -sheets, supersecondary & tertiary structure. RASMOL HyperChem

STRUCTURAL PROTEINS: keratin, collagen, silk, scurvy, vitamin C, Marfans disease, Lincoln, Paganini

BINDING PROTEINS: Immunoglobulins, odor, cytochromes, oxygen transport, Myoglobin

HEMOGLOBIN: Cooperativity, reversibility, pH and temperature effects, coordination with CO2 transport,

altitude acclimation, hyperventilation, maternal-fetal O2 exchange, NO and CO, sickle cell & malaria

ENZYMES: catalysis, energetics, transition states, specificity, ABzymes, ribozymes, proteases, Chymotrypsin

ENZYME REGULATION: zymogens (digestion, insulin), allosteric and effectors (ATCase), Phosphorylations (phosphorylase kinase) Cascades (blood clotting, complement), isozymes (hexokinase), timers (G-Proteins), steady state kinetics (aspirin, penicillin, nerve gas)

 

NUCLEIC ACIDS

ORIGIN OF LIFE: origin of the elements, RNA world, ribosomes, pyrite and clay. cellular automata

NUCLEIC ACID STRUCTURE: Energetics of formation; single, double, triple, quad helices; palindromes, cruciforms, supercoiling; restriction, sequencing 

CANCER: clonal selection, P53, telomerase, chemotherapy

REPLICATION AND REPAIR: protein - NA interactions (Zn finger helix turn helix, leucine zippers) fidelity, methylations, glycosylations, excision repair, HIV and antivirals, DNA & RNA polymerases.

TRANSCRIPTION: promoters, Lac Operon, Trp Operon attenuation, TATA box, activators, coactivators, enhancers, silencers, steroids.

PROCESSING: why splice? (antibodies, evolution) splicesomes

PROTEIN SYNTHESIS: fidelity (synthetases, energetics,

G-proteins, proof reading), diphtheria, puromycin, destination and lifetimes of proteins. Chaperones ubiquitine

LIPIDS AND MEMBRANES

MEET THE FATS: fatty acids, waxes, lipids, steroids; structures, energetics, functions; fat soluble vitamins

MEMBRANES: composition and dynamics, clatherin

AS GATEWAYS: Energetics of diffusion, cotransport and active transport, Na+ K+ pump, Antibiotics (valinomycin, gramicidin), Vision, Cholera and Cystic fibrosis

CARBOHYDRATES

MEET THE SUGARS: structures and functions, carbonyl chemistry

POLYSACCHARIDES:Structural (cellulose, chitin, bacterial cell walls, mucopolysaccharides) Penicillin, sperm and egg, cartilage; Energy storage (glycogen, amylose)

SIGNALING WITH SUGARS: Timers (ceruloplasm, RBC's); Recognition (immunology, blood types); Destination

METABOLISM

GLYCOLYSIS: energetics, control (PFK1&2, ATP, insulin, adrenaline), glycogen cascade, chemistry, pentose shuntArsenic Darwin and Napoleon

FATES OF PYRUVATE:ethanol,lactate (beer, bread, yogurt) 

PYRUVATE & COENZYMES: Niacin, Lipoate, vitamins B1 B2 B3, Beri Beri, fetal alcohol syndrome

TCA CYCLE AND GLUCONEOGENESIS: Biotin and Avidin; Running the Marathon and different tissues

LIPID METABOLISM: b-oxidation, FA synthesis, Steroid synthesis, cobalamine lipoproteins, heart disease, Lovastatin, Olestra

ELECTRON TRANSPORT: electron carriers, energetics and chemiosmotic gradient, ATP synthesis purple membrane, uncouplers, babies grizzly bears and skunk cabbage; oxygen respiration cyanide; Photosynthesis herbicides

NITROGEN AND AMINO ACID METABOLISM: urea cycle, vitamin B6, SAM,Folate, sulfa-drugs, leprosy, albinos, madness of King George, vampires

NUCLEIC ACID METABOLISM: salvage pathways, chemotherapy

HORMONES: NO, prostaglandins, amines, peptides, steroids, pheromones; G-proteins, tyrosine kinases, phospholipase C, Caffeine

STARVATION: summation of metabolism and hormones, diabetes

NERVES: active amines and neurotransmitters, action potentials nicotin, amphetamines, Prozac, LSD, morphine