Juan Sebastian Yakisich

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Molecular Biology

Juan Sebastian Yakisich, MD, PhD

Syllabus

JSY - MolBio

Content Outline for Molecular Biology

Instructor: Juan Sebastian Yakisich

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY is the branch of biology that deals with the nature of biological phenomena at the molecular level through the study of: DNA RNA proteins and other macromolecules involved in genetic information and cell function.

e-mail: yakisich@gmail.com

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GOALS

Teaching Assistant:

OVERVIEW: In this course, we will cover the structures and functions of major biomolecules, to understand the roles of these molecules in metabolism.

We will also cover the regulation and coordination of major metabolic pathways.

e-mail:

Phone:

Office:

TEXT & REFERENCE MATERIALS

Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry

David L. Nelson (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Michael M. Cox (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

ISBN-10: 1-4292-3414-8

ISBN-13: 978-1-4292-3414-6

Prerequisite:

General Biology, Chemistry

SPECIFIC COVERAGE

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: ENZYMES AND METABOLISM

A. Enzyme Structure and Function

1. Function of enzymes in catalyzing biological reactions

2. Reduction of activation energy

3. Substrates and enzyme specificity

B. Control of Enzyme Activity

1. Feedback inhibition

2. Competitive inhibition

3. Noncompetitive inhibition

C. Basic Metabolism

1. Glycolysis (anaerobic and aerobic, substrates and products)

2. Krebs cycle (substrates and products, general features of the pathway)

3. Electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation (substrates and products, general features of the pathway)

4. Metabolism of fats and proteins

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: DNA AND PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

DNA Structure and Function

A. DNA Structure and Function

1. Double-helix structure

2. DNA composition (purine and pyrimidine bases, deoxyribose, phosphate)

3. Base-pairing specificity, concept of complementarity

4. Function in transmission of genetic information

B. DNA Replication

1. Mechanism of replication (separation of strands, specific coupling of free nucleic acids, DNA polymerase, primer required)

2. Semiconservative nature of replication

C. Repair of DNA

1. Repair during replication

2. Repair of mutations

D. Recombinant DNA Techniques

1. Restriction enzymes

2. Hybridization

3. Gene cloning

4. PCR

Protein Synthesis

A. Genetic Code

1. Typical information flow (DNA → RNA → protein)

2. Codon-anticodon relationship, degenerate code

3. Missense and nonsense codons

4. Initiation and termination codons (function, codon sequences)

B. Transcription

1. mRNA composition and structure (RNA nucleotides, 5′ cap, poly-A tail)

2. tRNA and rRNA composition and structure (e.g., RNA nucleotides)

3. Mechanism of transcription (RNA polymerase, promoters, primer not required)

C. Translation

1. Roles of mRNA, tRNA, and rRNA; RNA base-pairing specificity

2. Role and structure of ribosomes

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: EUKARYOTES

A. Eukaryotic Chromosome Organization

1. Chromosomal proteins

2. Telomeres, centromeres

B. Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes

1. Transcription regulation

2. DNA binding proteins, transcription factors

3. Cancer as a failure of normal cellular controls, oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes

4. Posttranscriptional control, basic concept of splicing (introns, exons)