BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2020/2021
- Teacher
- MONICA BORGATTI
- Credits
- 10
- Curriculum
- BIOTECNOLOGIE PER L'AMBIENTE
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/10
Training objectives
- The course permits to know and understand the structural characteristics of biomolecules (nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) and their monomeric units (nucleotides, amino acids, sugars). The student will also recognize the key role of enzymes in biochemistry as catalysts of reactions, deepening their classification, kinetics and related regulation. The student will also understand the structure of biological membranes, how solutes are transported through it, which receptors are involved in biosignaling and the relative signal transduction pathways.
In addition, the student will know the metabolic reactions that provide energy and will be able to describe the different stages and enzymes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and nitrogen compounds both in terms of synthesis and degradation, also understanding how physiological variations influence them. Prerequisites
- Basic Knowledges of organic chemistry and cellular biology are required.
No prerequisites. Course programme
- The course is divided, for the morpho-functional address, into 80 hours of lessons (10 ECTS), while for the enviroment address, into 72 hours of lessons (9 ECTS) and 10 hours of laboratory teaching activities (1 ECTS).
The course program includes:
Part 1 - Structure and catalysis (24 hours, common to both addresses)
DNA and RNA: composition and structure
Proteins: composition, structure, structure-function relationship in protein families
Enzymes: classification, kinetics and regulation
Carbohydrates and lipids
Biological membranes: structure, receptors and transport of solutes
Fundamentals of signal transduction
Part 2-Bioenergetics and metabolism (40 hours, common to both addresses)
Glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, pentose phosphate pathway
Metabolic regulation principles
Citric acid cycle and the electron transport chain
Fatty acid catabolism
Biosynthesis of fatty acids
Metabolism of nitrogen compounds
Hormonal regulation and metabolism integration
Part 3 - Transmission of information (16 hours, only for the morpho-functional address)
DNA replication, recombination and repair
RNA: transcription and maturation
Protein biosynthesis
Regulation of gene expression
Part 4 - Introduction to basic molecular biology techniques (8 hours, only for the environment address)
DNA extraction
Gel electrophoresis to separate nucleic acids
Recombinant DNA: restriction endonuclease, cloning of DNA in plasmid vector
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Part 5 - Laboratory teaching activities (10 hours, only for the environment address)
The laboratory activities involve the use of molecular biology techniques for the analysis of bacterial DNA cut with a restriction enzyme. In particular, bacterial DNA is extracted, quantified, cut with restriction enzyme and analyzed on agarose gel. Both in the classroom and in the laboratory the experimental protocols, the calculations to carry out the various analyzes and the results obtained are explained and discussed.
The lesson hours reported for each topic/part of the program are indicative. Didactic methods
- The course is divided, for the morpho-functional address, into 80 hours of lessons (10 ECTS), while for the enviroment address, into 72 hours of lessons (9 ECTS) and 10 hours of laboratory teaching activities (1 ECTS).
The frontal lectures are performed using slides in power point format and blackboard provided in the classrooms to explain better the topics.
The didactic laboratory activities will also be carried out with the support of exercises and eventual projections of video and multimedia resources. Learning assessment procedures
- The exam is intended to evaluate the study of the matter and understanding of the described concepts during the course.
The exam includes a test (10 multiple choice questions with explanation of the specific answer with a total score of 3 points for each question, except to one question with a total score of 4 points), based on all the topics covered in the course.
For the test, each correct answer has a score of 3 points (or 4 points just for one), for a maximum total of 31 points. Wrong answer or no date 0 points. Partial/incomplete response to open questions 1-2 points (1-3 points just for one). The final mark is the sum of the marks obtained from ten questions, with the total score of 31 equal to the final vote of 30/30 cum laude. The exam lasts two hours.
For DSA students the test procedure will be evaluated individually. Reference texts
- Books for the exam preparation:
-I Principi di Biochimica di Lehninger di DL. Nelson e MM. Cox Zanichelli Editore
-Introduzione alla biochimica di Lehninger di di DL. Nelson e MM. Cox Zanichelli Editore
