BIO304: Essential biochemistry

        [Cr:4, Lc:4, Tt:0, Lb:0]

Course Outline

• Biochemistry: A historical perspective Review of thermodynamic principles relevant to biochemistry: Laws of thermodynamics. Free energy. Chemical equilibrium.
• Structural aspects of biomolecules:
  1. Amino acids and proteins. Covalent structures of proteins. Protein three dimensional structures. Domains and Motifs Protein structure-function mechanisms- overview of protein families and superfamilies. A case study on Hemoglobin.
  2. Nucleic acids and their structures.
  3. Sugars and polysaccharides.
  4. Lipids and membranes.
• Enzymes and their mechanisms of action:
  1. Introduction to enzymes.
  2. Rates of enzymatic reactions.
  3. Enzymatic catalytic mechanisms: lysozyme and serine proteases.
• Metabolism:
  1. Carbohydrate metabolism.
  2. Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation.
  3. Photosynthesis
  4. Lipid metabolism.
  5. Amino acid metabolism.
  6. Nucleotide metabolism.
  7. Integration of metabolic pathways and metabolic disorders.

Recommended Reading

• D. Voet and J. G. Voet, Biochemistry, 4th Edn., Wiley (2010).
• D. L. Nelson and M. M. Cox, Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, 5th Edn., W. H. Freeman (2008).