Biological chemistry I

BIO-212

This file is part of the content downloaded from Biological chemistry I.

Biological Chemistry I

Lecturers

Aleksandar Antanasijevic
Matteo Dal Peraro

Language

English

Summary

Biochemistry is a key discipline in the Life Sciences. Biological Chemistry I and II are two tightly interconnected courses that aims to understand in molecular terms the processes that make life possible.

Content

In this course we will learn the properties of biological macromolecules at the atomic level in order to understand their function within the cell. We will dissect therefore the basics of macromolecular structure and how it translates into functional molecular mechanisms. Among the major types of biological macromolecules, including nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, we will put a major emphasis on proteins - the workhorses of cells. The content of the course will touch the following topics:

  • Building blocks: Sugars, lipids, amino acids, oligonucleotides 
  • Protein structural organization, folding
  • Analysis and visualization of proteins
  • Protein expression and purification
  • Protein structure determination by experimental and computational methods
  • Thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecules
  • Methods to measure protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions
  • Enzymatic catalysis and reaction mechanisms

Keywords

proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, structural biology, biochemistry, enzymes, experimental and computational methods, protein folding, biophysics

Teaching methods

  • Lectures
  • Exercise session accompanying each lecture
  • Execises session on bioinformatics and proteins structure visualization tools

Expected student activities

  • Attending to classes
  • Attendance to exercise
  • Class participation

Assessment methods

  • written exam - the exam will be an "open book" exam and what this means is that you are allowed to bring all the materials provided during the semester (slides, exercises, solutions), but not the recommended book (The Molecules of Life).    

Teaching assistants

  • Kiruthika Kumar – kiruthika.kumar@epfl.ch
  • Alissa Agerova – alissa.agerova@epfl.ch
  • Fernando Meireles – fernando.meireles@epfl.ch
  • Evgenia Elizarova – evgenia.elizarova@epfl.ch
  • Camilla DiGiulio - camilla.digiulio@epfl.ch
  • Arthur Samurkas - arthur.samurkas@epfl.ch
  • Yangyang Miao - yangyang.miao@epfl.ch
  • Edoardo Cavani - edoardo.cavani@epfl.ch

Bibliography


and other various resources indicated during lectures.











 






Lecture 14


Testing submission system


Exam Biological Chemistry