Biochemistry

Recommended Prerequisites

The student must have a background in basic Organic chemistry and Cell Biology. Ability to read scientifc texts in English.

Teaching Methods

Lectures, lab classes.

Learning Outcomes

Biochemistry provides the understanding of structure and function of biomacromolecules.

1. The students should be able to understand the basic chemical properties of biomolecules and how these properties determine its structure and functions

2. The students should be able to discuss how the collections of inanimate molecules that constitute living organisms interact to maintain and perpetuate life animated solely by the physical and chemical laws that govern the nonliving universe

More specifically:

a) Structure-function relationship

b) How do the interactions of the biomolecules give rise to supramolecular structures, cells, multicellular tissues, and organisms

c) Reactions and compartmentalization

d) Biomolecules as pharmacologic targets

3. The student should be able to apply the Biochemistry knowledge to tackle problems and understand the process, the mechanism and regulation in the areas of, Biomedicine, Physiology, Toxicology, Pharmacology, Agriculture, Nutrition and Environment.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Water and weak chemical interactions. Hydrophobic effect and spontaneous molecular organization.

Proteins:

Translation and post-translational control. Proteome dynamics

Aminoacids. Protein structure.

Domains in proteins and critical examples in biological processes.

Protestic groups and redox activity of proteins.

Supramolecular organization. Structure and function of hemoglobin and myoglobin.

Mutations, conformational changes and function.

Proteostasis and dynamic state in the cell. Chaperones, ubiquitin:proteosome system and autophagy.

Enzymes, mechanisms, kinetics and regulation.

Glucides: structure and biological relevance

Lipids and biological membranes: structure and diversity of functions. Organization in water.

Nucleic acids: structure and genetic information.

Lab classes:

Acid-base properties of aminoacids.

Conformational stability and  solubility of proteins

Quantification and fractionation: ionic exchange chromatography

Enzymatic activity: pH and T.

Head Lecturer(s)

João António Nave Laranjinha

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

In addition to classical Biochemistry Books, such as:

- Nelson, D. L. and Cox, M. M.: Lehninger. Principles of Biochemistry. 4th edition. W. H. Freeman and Company. New York. 2005.

- Devlin, T. M.: Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations. 4th edition, Wiley -Liss.  A John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Publication, New York,1997.

- Berg, J. M., Tymoczko, J. L. and L. Stryer.: Biochemistry. 6th edition. W. H. Freeman and Company. New York. 2006.

- Alexandre Quintas, Ana P. Freire e Manuel J. Halpern. Bioquímica Organização molecular da vida. Lidel. 2008

The professor provides the students with a manual, consisting in the slides described and commented in the notes page and organized in chapters. Each slide is described with the help of research papers and professor´s notes. The research papers are thus included as references along the slides according to the respective subjects.