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CHEM 4402
CHEM 4402 is the second part of a two-semester course that covers the structure and function of the major biomolecules (amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and polysaccharides) as well as the major metabolic pathways involved in their synthesis and catabolism. Completion of this course will enable the student to understand the functioning of living organisms at the molecular level, and appreciate the complexity, sophistication and efficiency inherent in cellular activity.
Apply the principles of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics to biochemical situations.
Identify the role that oxidation and reduction has in biological energy transfer.
Understand how carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and nucleotides are catabolized and recycled, with the concomitant production of biological energy.
Identify the key role that the citric acid cycle has in the aerobic catabolism of nutrients, production of biological energy and provision of precursors for biosynthesis.
Determine how glucose, lipids, amino acids and nucleotides can be synthesized from a combination of inorganic and biological molecules, and identify the cellular cues that regulate their rate of synthesis.
Identify the key reaction mechanisms in metabolism, including oxidation-reduction, decarboxylation, and transamination reactions, as well as the enzymes and cofactors that facilitate these reactions.
Understand the biological carbon cycle, including its fixation, regulation and incorporation into various biomolecules.
Understand the biological nitrogen cycle, including its fixation, regulation, and incorporation into various biomolecules.
Understand how the metabolic pathways are coordinated, integrated and regulated.
Perform basic biochemical laboratory techniques, including review of the primary literature, database analysis, bioinformatics, DNA extraction, digestion, ligation, transformation and sequencing, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometry, protein expression, purification and analysis.
Prepare a professional, written project report.
Bioenergetics
Glycolysis
Glycogen Metabolism
The Pentose Phosphate Pathway
The Citric Acid (Krebs) Cycle
Fatty Acid Oxidation
Amino Acid Oxidation & the Urea Cycle
Oxidative Phosphorylation (ATP production)
Photophosphorylation (ATP production in photosynthetic organisms)
Carbohydrate Biosynthesis
Glucose Biosynthesis (gluconeogenesis)
Lipid Biosynthesis
Cholesterol Biosynthesis & Transport
Nitrogen Metabolism
Amino Acid Biosynthesis
Nucleotide Metabolism
Vitamin Chemistry
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