COURSE CONTENT

Carbohydrates

-Monosaccharides.

Triose, tetrose, pentose, exose, aldoses, ketoses Disaccharides.

Glycogen, Starch, Cellulose. Polysaccharides. Glycosaminoglycans. Proteoglycans.

Oligosaccharide synthesis. Glycoproteins. Glycosylation of proteins.

Lipids and biological membranes.

-Role of lipids.

-Fatty acids – Structure and properties. Triacylglycerols.

-Structure of membrane lipids.

• Phosphoglycerides, sphingolipids, glycolipids. Sterols.
• Cholesterol, Vitamin D, Steroid hormones. Eicosanoids
• Prostaglandins
• Thromboxanes
• Leukotriene Cell membranes.

-Membrane proteins.

• Interaction of membranes and proteins.

Metabolism

Entry of glucose into cells – glycolysis.

Krebs cycle.

Respiratory chain- Oxidative phosphorylation.

Glucogenogenesis – glycogenolysis – blood glucose – regulation of glucose homeostasis. β-oxidation of fatty acids – ketone bodies.

Biosynthesis of lipids – blood lipoproteins.

Cholesterol (biosynthesis – conversions – atherosclerosis).

Amino acid catabolism (deamination processes – urea cycle – catabolism of the carbonate skeleton of amino acids). Biosynthesis/catabolism of purine-pyrimidine nucleotides.

Integrattion of metabolism.

Transfer of genetic information

Structure, properties of nucleic acids and flow of genetic information.

Avery-McLeod-McCarty experiment.

Structure and nomenclature of DNA and RNA. Determation of DNA structure of DNA.

Higher structures of nucleic acids. DNA denaturation, hybridization, DNA microarrays.

Flow of genetic information. RNA synthesis. Protein synthesis.

DNA replication, repair and recombination.

Recombinant DNA Technology (Restriction Endonucleases, Membrane Detection Techniques, DNA Sequencing, Solid-Phase Nucleic Acid Synthesis. PCR. Real-time PCR. PCR Yield. Random Matching Oligonucleotides. Melting Temperature. Reverse-Transcription PCR. Inverse PCR.Applications of PCR).

Cloning of DNA segments. Vectors. Genomic and cDNA libraries and screening for genes. Eukaryotic gene manipulation. Transgenic animals. Directed mutagenesis.

Exploring evolution – homologs, orthologs, paralogs