Corsi di studio in
Farmacia - Chimica e tecnologia farmaceutiche

he course is aimed at describing structure and function of the chief biological molecules (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids) as well as giving the picture of the complex interaction among metabolic pathways in humans. A section describing the flow of information from DNA to proteins is also included: in this section, the attention will be drawn to the revision of the central dogma of molecular biology. The course will give the essential requirements for the strictly related courses of Applied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The course will also offer the background for courses dealing with human diseases and their treatment (Pathology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacology).

PROGRAMME

Structure and function of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids

PROTEINS - Structure and properties of aminoacids. Aminoacid families. Peptide bond and secondary structures. Tertiary  and quaternary structure. Folding, unfolding. Chaperones and misfolding diseases. Mioglobin and haemoglobin: the globin fold and heme group. The allosteric behaviour of Hb. Oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve. Bohr and 2,3-BPG effects.

CARBOHYDRATES – Classes, functions, structures. Glucose, fructose. Aminosugars and mucopolysaccharides. Mucopolysaccharidoses. LIPIDS- Classes, functions, structures. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Glycerophospho- and sphingolipids. Terpenes and lipophilic vitamins. Cholesterol. Biological membranes.

Enzyme kinetics

An overview on the enzymatic reactions. Transition state theory. Covalent and non covalent catalysis. Proteases: a recapitulating example. Michaelis-Menten kinetics: experimental design and kinetic model. T and pH effect. Kinetic parameters and their measure. Inhibitors: classes and examples. Enzyme regulation. Allosteric enzymes.

Metabolism

INTRODUCTION – Catabolic and biosynthetic processes. Thermodynamics of biochemical reactions. ATP: structure, properties, reactions. Other “high-energy” compounds. Vitamins and coenzymes. METABOLIC PATHWAYS – Glicolysis: functions, reactions, regulation. Lactic fermentation. Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Krebs cycle: reactions and multiple connections. Oxidative phosphorylation: function, subcellular localization, respiratory chain complexes. Coenzyme Q, cytochrome c and other electron transporters.  Chemiosmotic theory and F_OF₁ ATP synthase. Penthose phosphate pathway and NADPH requirement. Glycogen metabolism and gluconeogenesis. Fatty acid mobilization and beta-oxidation. Comparison between carbohydrates and lipid degradation. Ketone bodies. Synthesis of fatty acids: transport of acetyl-CoA from mitochondrion, acetyl-CoA activation, fatty acid synthase complex. Regulation of lipid metabolism. Cholesterol biosynthesis and distribution. LDL uptake and hypercholesterolemia. Steroid hormones. Protein prenylation. Protein catabolism. Glucogenic and ketogenic aminoacids. Aminotransferases. Removalof amino acid nitrogen as ammonia. Urea cycle. Aminoacid biosynthetic families. Monocarbon unit metabolism, role of tetrahydrofolate and S-adenosyl methionine. Biomolecules from aminoacids. Purines and pyrimidine nucleotide  metabolism: de novo synthesis and rescue. Biosynthetic origin of the atoms in purine and pyrimidine bases. Synthesis of deoxyribonucleotides and thymine. MOLECULAR SIGNALLING – Membrane and nuclear receptors. cAMP and PIP₂ cascades, G proteins, cGMP, insulin receptor and RTKs.

Molecular biology

STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS –DNA structure: single strand and double helix. Topology of DNA. Chromatin structure and function. RNA types. DNA REPLICATION –DNA replication in prokaryotes: general mechanism, helicases, SSBP, primase, DNA polymerases, ligase, topoisomerases. An outline of  DNA replication in eukaryotes. GENETIC CODE AND tRNA – Genes and genetic code. Decoding the genetic code: initial experiments. tRNA and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Codon-anticodon pairing and wobbling. PROTEIN SYNTHESIS (TRANSLATION) – Ribosome structure and function. Protein synthesis in prokaryotes: initiating, elongation and termination. RNA SYNTHESIS (TRANSCRIPTION) AND PROCESSING – Differences between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. RNA polymerases and transcription process. Different types of splicing and RNA processing. Introns and exons. REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION – Catabolic (Lac-operon) and biosynthetic (Trp-operon) operones in prokaryotes. Regulation in eukaryotes: transcription factors and  chromatin remodelling. RNAi and gene silencing. Epigenetic control and rubbish DNA.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

 Good grounding in organic chemistry is essential.