University of Zagreb School of Medicine

Plan of the course

MEDICAL CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY II

Academic year 2013/2014

Course coordinator:
Assoc. Prof. eljka Vukeli
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The teaching of the preclinical courses is devoted to give students an overview of morphology and
function of the body systems in health. Therefore the course Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry is
integrated and composed in such a way to enable students to become familiar with chemical structures,
chemical and energetic changes, as well as with the regulation of metabolic processes in human organism.
Conceived in such a way, this course offers biochemical basis for the teaching of physiology, as well as
for the understanding of the vast number of diseases caused by pathobiochemical processes. The basic
principles of chemistry and biochemistry are grouped around principal thematic units structured
pedagogically into a coherent whole comprised of lectures, seminars, and practical.
The content of the Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry II course comprises: biosignaling,
energetic properties of living organisms, metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and proteins,
biochemistry of hormones, nutrition, integration of metabolism, metabolic roles of certain tissues, organs
and body fluids.
The course laboratory practice covers porphyrins and bile pigments, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic
acids, enzymes in medicine, acid-base and mineral status of a human organism, and urine analysis.
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Study Unit Abbreviations: L, Lecture; S, Seminar; P, Practicum (laboratory practice)
st

1 Week

Day
Monday
11.11.2013
Tuesday
12.11.2013

Wednesday
13.11.2013

Thursday
14.11.2013

Friday
15.11.2013

Time
(hours)

Study
Unit

Topic

11.30-13.00

L 1 (2 h)

Metabolism of Eukaryotes: an Overview.

13.30-15.00

L 2 (2 h)

Regulation of Enzyme Activity.

13.00-14.30

L 3 (2 h)

Types of Transport Across Membranes.

15.00-16.30

L 4 (2 h)

Basics of Biosignaling.

10.00-11.30

L 5 (2 h)

Metabolism of Carbohydrates: an Overview.

12.00-13.30

L 6 (2 h)

Glycosides, Complex Carbohydrates and Glycoconjugates:

Structural Features and Metabolic Role(s). Digestion and
Absorption of Carbohydrates.

10.00-11.30

S 1 (2 h)

Glycolysis: Reactions and Regulation. Fates of Pyruvate under

Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditions. Stoichiometry of ATP
Production by the Complete Oxidation of Glucose.

12.00-13.30

S 2 (2 h)

Gluconeogenesis. Regulation of Glycolysis and Guconeogenesis.

10.00-11.30

S 3 (2 h)

Pentose Phosphate Pathway. Related Diseases.

12.30-15.55

P 1 (4.5 h)

Methods in the Analysis of Biological Materials.

Lecturer

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2 Week

Day

Monday
18.11.2013

Time
(hours)

Study
Unit

Topic

09.30 -10.15

L 7 (1 h)

Metabolism of Fru, Gal, GlcA, Lac. Additional Monosaccharide

Interconversions; Related Metabolic Disorders.

10.40-12.10

S 4 (2 h)

Glycogen Metabolism: Glycogenolysis & Glycogenesis. Glycogen

Storage Diseases.

13.00-16.25

P 2 (4.5 h)

Carbohydrates II.

10.00-11.30

L 8 (2 h)

Overview of Three Stages of Cellular Respiration (Aerobic Metab.):

(1) AcetylSCoA Production; Oxidative Decarboxylation of
Pyruvate; (2) Citric Acid Cycle; (3) Electron Transfer & Oxidative
Phosphorylation. Metabolic Fates of AcetylSCoA.

12.00-13.30

S 5 (2 h)

Citric Acid Cycle as a Central Metabolic Pathway: Reactions and

Regulation.

10.00-11.30

S 6 (2 h)

Respiratory Chain & Oxidative Phosphorylation.

12.00-13.30

L 9 (2 h)

Transporter Systems in the Inner Mitochondrial Membrane. Shuttle

Systems for Mitochondrial Oxidation of the Cytosolic NADH.
Regulation of the ATP-Producing Pathways: a Summary.

Tuesday
19.11.2013

Wednesday
20.11.2013

Thursday
21.11.2013
Friday
22.11.2013

Lecturer

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3 Week

Day

Time
(hours)

Study
Unit

10.00-11.30

L 10 (2 h)

Simple Lipids: Reminder on Classification, Structure and

Nomenclature. Digestion and Absorption of Lipids.
Triacylglycerols: Storage and Lipolysis. Overview of Fatty Acids
Oxidation and Synthesis.

12.00-13.30

S 7 (2 h)

Lipolysis. Oxidation of Fatty Acids (FA): -oxidation of Even and

Odd C-Number FAs; Very long chain FA shortening; Unsaturated
FAs Oxidation; - and -Oxidation.

10.15-11.00

S 8 (1 h)

Stoichiometry of ATP Production by the Complete Oxidation of

FAs. Ketone bodies Synthesis (Ketogenesis) and Oxidation.

12.00-15.25

P 3 (4.5 h)

Lipids I.

10.00-11.30

S 9 (2 h)

Synthesis of saturated and unsaturated (-9, -6, -3 series) FAs

and Eicosanoids. Role of Eicosanoids.

12.00-13.30

S 10 (2 h)

Metabolism of Cholesterol and Other Isoprenoids (Bile Acids,

Steroid Hormones, Vitamins).

10.00-11.30

S 11 (2 h)

Lipoproteins: Metabolism and Role(s); Related Diseases.

12.30-15.55

P 4 (4.5 h)

Lipids II.

Monday
25.11.2013

Tuesday
26.11.2013

Wednesday
27.11.2013

Thursday
28.11.2013

Topic

Lecturer

Friday
29.11.2013

th

4 Week

Day

Time
(hours)

Study
Unit

Topic

Monday
02.12.2013
st

1 control test

11.00-11.30

Tuesday
03.12.2013

12.30-14.00

L 11 (2 h)

Complex Lipids: Reminder on Classification, Structure and

Nomenclature. Overview of the Metabolism and Roles as
Membrane Components & Second Messengers.

10.00-11.30

S 12 (2 h)

Metabolism and Role of Ester- and Ether-Linked Phospholipids;

Related Disorders.

12.00-13.30

S 13 (2 h)

Sphingolipids: Metabolism and Metabolic Disorders, Roles. Lipids

in Signal Transduction.

09.30-10.15

L 12 (1 h)

Protein Digestion and Absorption.

10.30-11.15

L 13 (1 h)

Proteins: Posttranslational Modifications, Targeting (Traffic and

Sorting) and Degradation.

Wednesday
04.12.2013

Thursday
05.12.2013
Friday
06.12.2013

Lecturer

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5 Week

Day

Time
(hours)

Study
Unit

12.00-13.30

L 14 (2 h)

Metabolism of Amino Acids and Proteins: an Overview.

14.00-15.30

S 14 (2 h)

Catabolism of Proteins and of Amino Acid Nitrogen. Fates of

Amino Groups. Urea Cycle. Related Disorders.

09.00-10.30

S 15 (2 h)

Catabolism of the Carbon Skeleton of Amino Acids.

11.00-11.45

S 16 (1 h)

Synthesis of Nutritionally Nonessential Amino Acids.

13.00-16.25

P 5 (4.5 h)

Urine Analysis. Nucleic Acids, Part I.

09.30-11.00

S 17 (2 h)

Biomolecules Derived from Amino Acids. Porphyrins and Bile

Pigments. Creatine Phosphate and Creatinine. Glutathione.
Biological Amines (Neurotransmitters). Nitric OxideF

12.00-15.25

P 6 (4 h)

Nucleic Acids, Part II.

09.30-11.00

S 18 (2 h)

Metabolism of Purine and Pyrimidine Nucleotides.

12.00-15.25

P 7 (4.5 h)

Enzymes in Medicine.

Topic

Lecturer

Monday
09.12.2013
Tuesday
10.12.2013

Wednesday
11.12.2013

Thursday
12.12.2013

Friday
13.12.2013

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6 Week

Day
Monday
16.12.2013

Tuesday
17.12.2013

Wednesday
18.12.2013

Thursday
19.12.2013

Friday
20.12.2013

Time
(hours)

Study
Unit

Topic

10.00-11.30

L 15 (2 h)

Metabolic Pathways Interrelationships & Integration of Metabolism.

12.00-13.30

S 19 (2 h)

Hormones: Synthesis, a Way of Action, and Effects.

10.15-11.00

S 20 (1 h)

Nutritional Requirements and Principles.

12.00-15.25

P 8 (4.5 h)

Porphyrins, Hemoglobin and Bile Pigments.

10.00-11.30

L 16 (2 h)

The Feeding-Fasting Cycle. Metabolism in Starvation. Glucose

Homeostasis. Metabolism in Diabetes.

12.30-14.00

S 21 (2 h)

The Tissue Division of Labor.

09.30-11.00

S 22 (2 h)

Regulation of the Cell Cycle. Oncogenes, Tumor Suppressor

Genes and Apoptosis. (Malignant Transformations.)

12.00-15.25

P 9 (4.5 h)

Acid-Base and Mineral Status of Human Body.

12.00-12.30

2nd control test

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Regular terms

Date

Winter
Summer
Autumn
Additional terms

July, 2014
Sept., 2014
Sept., 2014
January 10th, 2014

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1. Professor Nicoletta Burger, MSc, PhD
2. Associate Professor Blaenka Foreti, MSc, PhD the Course vice coordinator
3. Associate Professor Svjetlana Kalanj-Bognar, MD, PhD
4. Assistant Professor Daria Paali, MSc, PhD
5. Associate Professor eljka Vukeli, MSc, PhD the Course coordinator
6. Dragana Fabris, M.Chem.&Biol.
7. Kristina Mlinac, PhD
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1. Associate Professor Blaenka Foreti, MSc, PhD
2. Associate Professor Svjetlana Kalanj-Bognar, MD, PhD
3. Assistant Professor Daria Paali, MSc, PhD
4. Associate Professor eljka Vukeli, MSc, PhD
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Selected chapters from:
1. Nelson D.L. and Cox M.M.: Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry. 5th Ed., W.H. Freeman (Publisher),
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2008; or 4th Ed., Worth Publishers, 2005.

2. McKee T. and McKee J.R.: Biochemistry: The Molecular Basis of Life. 4th Ed., Oxford University
Press, 2009.
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Selected chapters from:
1. Devlin T.E. Ed.: Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations. 6th Ed., Wiley-Liss, 2006.
2. Murray R.K., Bender D.A., Botham K.M., Kennelly P.J., Rodwell V.W., and Weil P.A. (Eds): Harper's
Illustrated Biochemistry, 28th Ed., The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009; or 27th Ed., 2006.

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