4 hours/week of lectures and tutorials
This course involves four hours a week of classroom instruction, including lectures and tutorials in which selected problems from the textbook are collectively solved.
- Water
- Properties of water
- Acid-base concepts
- The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation
- pH, pK, and pI
- Protein structure
- Amino acids, peptides, and proteins
- Titration curves of amino acids and peptides
- Protein structure
- Peptide sequencing
- Electrophoresis
- Protein function
- Structure, function, and behaviour of myoglobin and hemoglobin
- Adult hemoglobin versus fetal hemoglobin
- The effect of metabolites on hemoglobin function
- Hemoglobin variants
- Enzyme kinetics
- Enzymes as biological catalysts
- Reaction rates
- The specificity of enzymes for their substrates
- Specific catalytic groups and their contribution to catalysis
- The Michaelis-Menten equation
- Lineweaver-Burk plots
- The meaning of Vmax and Km
- Reversible and irreversible inhibition
- The effect of pH on enzyme activity
- Allosteric enzymes
- Bioenergetics
- The Laws of Thermodynamics - a short review
- Standard and actual free-energy change
- The Equilibrium Constant
- Coupled reactions
- Phosphate group transfers and ATP
- Metabolism
- Glycolysis
- The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle or Krebs Cycle
- The Electron Transport System
- The Glycerol-Phosphate and Malate-Aspartate shuttle mechanisms
- Gluconeogenesis
- Glycogen metabolism - Glycogen synthesis and Glycogenolysis
- Lipid metabolism - beta-oxidation and fatty acid synthesis
- Nitrogen transport and the Urea cycle; ubiquination
- The effects of hormones on metabolism
- Integration of metabolism
Upon completion of Biology 2421, the student will be able to:
- Describe the chemistry of water, acid-base properties, and buffers.
- Describe the structure and acid-base properties of amino acids.
- Describe the structure of peptides and proteins, and how their structure relates to function.
- Explain how protein sequence is determined.
- Describe what allosteric proteins are, and their importance.
- Describe the structure, function, and behaviour of hemoglobin and myoglobin.
- Apply the principles of enzyme kinetics to describe quantitatively the activity and behaviour of enzymes.
- Explain basic bioenergetic principles as they relate to metabolism in the cell.
- Describe the structure and function of carbohydrates and lipids.
- Explain in detail the processes of glycolysis, Krebs cycle, electron transport and ATP synthesis.
- Describe the process of gluconeogenesis.
- Describe glycogen synthesis and glycogenolysis.
- Discuss the role of hormones in the regulation of cellular metabolism.
- Describe lipid metabolism.
- Describe nitrogen metabolism.
- Discuss how catabolic and anabolic pathways integrate in human metabolism.
Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation will be based on the following:
| Class tests | 10-25% |
| Term project | 10-15% |
| Two term examinations | 30-50% |
| One final examination | 30-40% |
| 100% |
Consult the Douglas College Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials. Example textbooks and materials may include:
Nelson and Cox. Lehninger – Principles of Biochemistry (current edition). New York: Worth Publishers.
Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:
- No corequisite courses
Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:
- No equivalency courses