Descriptive biochemistry
Amino acids: classification, structure and properties. Dissociation and titration curves. The Isoelectric point.
Chemistry and general properties of proteins. Protein classification. Structure of proteins. Simple and conjugated proteins. Hemoglobin and myoglobin: structure and functions. Oxygenation curve. Methemoglobin.
The chemistry of carbohydrates: monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. Mutarotation. Isomerism and stereoisomerism. Structure and properties of carbohydrates of biological interest.
The chemistry of lipids: Classification. Neutral fats. Fatty acids. Steroids and sterols: bile acids, cholesterol. The phospholipids.
Vitamins: generalities, definition and relationship with coenzymatic activities. The fat-soluble vitamins. The water-soluble vitamins.
Hormones: classification and metabolic effects of insulin, glucagon and adrenaline.
Dynamic Biochemistry
Enzymes: general properties. cofactors. The active site. Enzyme-substrate complex. Specificity. Principles of enzymatic kinetics. Equation and Michaelis constant. Enzyme inhibition.
Carbohydrate metabolism: Digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. Synthesis and demolition of glycogen. Glucose catabolism and anabolism. Regulatory mechanisms of glucose metabolism.
Lipid metabolism: digestion and absorption. Catabolism and anabolism of fatty acids. Ketogenesis. Adjustments of lipid metabolism.
Protein metabolism: digestion and absorption. Enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins. Catabolism of amino acids and Ureogenesis.
Biological oxidations and bioenergetic
Energetic significance of oxidative reactions. The redox potential. Krebs cycle, anaplerotic reactions. The mitochondrion: shuttle mechanisms for the transport of electrons, the respiratory chain and the mechanism of formation of ATP (Mitchell theory). ATP synthase. Energy reserves.
ROS. Lipid peroxidation. Antioxidant enzymes.
Cellular Detoxification Mechanisms
Phase I: The oxidation and hydrolysis reactions.
Phase II: The reactions of conjugations; Glutathione sulfo-transferase (GST); Glutathione and GSTs; Transport and metabolic fate of GSH-Conjugates.
Analytical Biochemistry
Main methodologies used in biochemical research, with particular reference to chromatography techniques; Applications of UV-vis spectroscopy to the analysis of biomolecules. General aspects of proteomics: electrophoretic separation of proteins; mass spectrometry in protein identification.
