Biochemistry

CELLULAR MEMBRANES
- structure, organization, and functional properties
- roles of the specific lipid, protein and carbohydrate components
- lateral and trans-bilayer motions of lipids
- microdomains as functional compartments

TRANSPORT ACROSS MEMBRANES
- mechanisms, roles, and control of diffusion and solute transport in homeostasis
- features and types of protein-mediated transport
- pores, channels and ionophores
- passive transmembrane transporters of ions
- primary active transporters: ATP-dependent pumps and ATP-binding cassette transporters
- the solute carrier transporter family: transport of glucose, amino acids, vitamins and ions
- overview of vesicular transport

BIOCHEMISTRY OF HORMONES
- chemical structure and properties of hormonal classes
- hormone biosynthesis and release
- hormonal control and cyclic hormonal systems
- hormone receptors and properties
- action mechanism of lipophilic and hydrophilic hormones

ENZYMES
- definition, structure and properties, mechanisms and kinetics, nomenclature
- factors affecting enzyme activity, enzyme cofactors, coenzymes and isoenzymes
- enzyme inhibition and regulatory mechanisms of enzyme activity
- pseudoenzymes and moonlighting enzymes and medical relevance of enzymes

CELLULAR METABOLISM
- definition, purposes, and features
- metabolic pathways: types, interconnections and control strategies
- metabolomics and relevance in medicine
- metabolism and epigenetics

CELLULAR STRATEGIES FOR ENERGY TRANSFER AND USE
- high-energy compounds
- properties and role of ATP as energy transporter
- biological oxidations: coenzymes and role in homeostasis
- energy flux and energy transformation in cells
- ATP formation by substrate-level phosphorylation and oxidative phosphorylation

FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN NUTRITION
- functional types of nutrients
- essential nutrients and their importance in human health
- nutrient energy content: evaluation and measure units
- basal metabolic rate and factors influencing it
- total energetic requirement, its components and energetic needs for physical activity

THE TRICARBOXYLIC ACID CYCLE
- substrates, products, enzymes, cofactors, sites of energy recovery, and regulation
- the amphibolic role of the TCA cycle and roles of anaplerotic reactions
- the signaling role of the TCA cycle

THE MITOCHONDIAL RESPIRATORY CHAIN
- components, organization, properties, and energy flow
- the process of mitochondrial electron transfer
- inhibitors of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and role for altered mitochondrial respiratory chain in human diseases

ATP SYNTHASE
- structure and functional components
- coupling between the respiratory chain and ATP formation
- mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation
- the ATP/ADP cycle, and the concept of respiratory control
- inhibitors and uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation
- different roles of oxygen in human cells

REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES
- definition and types, production and clearance
- effects in physiological and physio-pathological conditions
- nitric oxide metabolism, functions and toxicity
- antioxidant defenses and redox homeostasis

 
METABOLISM OF CARBOHYDRATES
- digestion and absorption of carbohydrates
- glucose phosphorylation, importance in metabolism, and medical application
- metabolic fates of glucose
- the glycolytic pathway and energy production from anaerobic and aerobic glycolysis
- regulation of glycolysis by local and hormonal control
- shuttle mechanisms for transfer of reducing equivalents from cytosol to mitochondria
- role of glycolytic intermediates as precursors for biosynthesis
- origins and metabolic fates of fructose and galactose in humans
- the polyol pathway
- the pentose phosphate pathway and role in different cells
- glutathione metabolism and functions
- glycogen: advantages as energy storage, metabolism and regulation, medical importance of glycogen storage diseases

GLYCOCONJUGATES
- structure and functions
- types, origins, and activation of the monosaccharide units
- metabolism of O- glycoproteins and N-glycoproteins
- metabolism of glycosphingolipids

METABOLISM OF LIPIDS
- dietary lipids and fatty acids found in foods
- structure and role of essential fatty acids
- emulsification, enzymatic digestion and absorption of dietary lipids
- inter-organ transport of different lipids in blood: lipoprotein classification, composition, metabolism and roles
- fatty acid activation and metabolic fates
- fatty acid catabolism: β-oxidation (mechanism and regulation), peroxisomal and -oxidation oxidation
- ketone bodies: structure, metabolism, and metabolic relevance
- fatty acid biosynthesis: mechanism, and regulation
- fatty acid chain elongation and desaturation
- structure, metabolism, and properties of triacylglycerides, glycerophospholipids, eicosanoids, and endocannabinoids
- cholesterol structure, functions, origins, esterification, transport in blood and into cells

METABOLISM OF AMINO ACIDS
- digestion of dietary proteins and intestinal amino acid absorption
- protein turnover and mechanism of protein catabolism; proteosomal proteolysis
- transamination of amino acids: mechanism, roles and importance of aminotransferases in medicine
- biosynthesis of amino acids: precursors, cofactors, and metabolic strategies
- amino acid catabolism: fates of the carbon skeleton and the amino group
- ammonia: formation, blood transport, and strategies for elimination;
- urea cycle and its regulation

METABOLISM OF NUCLEOTIDES
- functional properties of nucleotides
- de novo synthesis and recycling pathways
- catabolism, and medical significance of uric acid

VITAMINS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
- sources, biochemical properties and health benefits of hydrophilic and hydrophobic vitamins
- consequences of vitamin deficiencies and excesses

METABOLIC INTERRELATIONSHIPS
- circulating and tissue stores of energy
- blood glucose regulation: endocrine control and relevance
- metabolic adaptations in the fed and fasting state and in stress conditions