
First Semester 
Teaching style
Lingua Insegnamento

Informazioni aggiuntive

Course Curriculum CFU Length(h)


Knowledge: the students will know structures and properties of the main kinds of biological compounds such as sugars, fats, and proteins, and moreover the main metabolic pathways in anuimal, vegetables, and microbes. They will learn theory and practice of elementary biochemical analyses.
Skills: the students will be able of encompassing biological chemistry with the previous information gained in other base courses such as general, physic, organic chemistry, kinetics. They will autonomously carry out some elemental biochemical analyses.
Behavior: the students will be able to integrate the acquired knowledge within a coherent frame. Both individual and equipe work will be encouraged.


Required knowledge: the students should manage basic and sound information in general and organic chemistry.


Introduction: chemical components of living organisms. Prebiotic chemistry and biochemistry.
Metabolism, anabolism, catabolism. Production, storage and use of metabolic energy. Aerobic and anaerobic chemistry. Antioxidants.
Glucides: classification, nomenclature, chemical and physico-chemical properties. Oligosaccharides, homo- and hetero-polysaccharides. Glycosides. Glucide derivatives. Sweeteners.
Lipid chemistry: fatty acids. Simple lipids, Complex lipids. Isoprenoids, steroids.
Cell membranes: Components, structure, transport phenomena.
Protein chemistry: the aminoacids: classification, structures, chemical and physico-chemical properties. The aminoacids as electrolytes. The essential aminoacids. Peptides. Protein classification and their structural levels.
Respiratory proteins: Hemoproteins, porphyrins, metalloporphyrins, heme, globins. Hemoglobins and Myoglobins. References to other respiratory proteins. Hill equation. T and R forms. Modulation and cooperativity. Bohr and Root effects.
The enzymes: definition, classification. general structure, mechanisms of catalysis. Coenzymes, cofactors. Enzyme specificity. Modulation and allosterism. Enzymes in biotechnology.
The vitamins: definitions, classification, structures, properties. Water soluble and fat soluble vitamins. Vitamin/coenzyme relationship. Structures of the known coenzymes.
Glucide metabolism: glycolysis, alcoholic fermentation, phodphorylation at the substrate level. Citric acid cycle. Glyoxylic acid cycle. Reference to direct glucose oxidation (pentose phosphate shunt). Fermentation biotechnology.
Lipid metabolism: beta oxidation, fate of propionyl CoA. Ketogenesis. Lipid biotechnology: biofuels.
Protein metabolism: general metabolism of aminoacids: deamination, transamination, transdeamination. Industrial enzymatic proteolysis. Decarboxylation. Reference to the nitrogen final catabolism. Cinnamate pathway and phenylpropanoids.
Mitochondrial Biochemistry: respiratory chain and its components. tgranshydrogenases and transelectronases. Oxidative phosphorylation. Decoupling agents.
Aminoacids titration.
Protein purificazione: cell lysis, fractionated precipitation, centrifugation, dyalasis, filtration.
Chromatography. TLC, IEC, SEC, IMAC, RP, HIC, HPLC.
Spectrophotometric analysis: UV-visible. Total protein quantification, and enzymatic assays.
Electrophoresis: native PAGE, SDS-PAGE, staining, IEF, blotting.
Enzymology of lignin and fungal laccases.
Preparation of buffer solutions and culture media. Liquid cultures of Pleurotus sajor-caju, with the addition laccase inducers. Laccase activity assay.
Purification of laccase with calcium phosphate-based ionic exchange. Zymogram with Native PAGE. Determination of laccase MW by SDS-PAGE.
Total protein determination with Bradford method. Aminoacids TLC.
GEl filtration of human hemoglobin.
Lactase immobilization and production of high lactose-reduced milk.
Antioxidant evaluation of plant extracts.

Teaching Methods

The course is splitted into two units: 1)6 CFU theoretical; 2)2 CFU introductory lessons and 4 CFU paractical activity into laboratory.

Verification of learning

Examination has the form of a colloquium.
Proficiency examination
1.1. Aims
1.2. Modes
1.3. Final decision
1.1. Aims
Examinations are aimed to a correct and unbiased evaluation of the preparation degree reached by students, i.e. the achievements of the formative targets required in the course.
1.2. Modes
The examination is an individual colloquium, also requiring the use of graphics, equations, schemes, flux diagrams. From general to particular, the student will move among basic concepts to proceed in depth within the topic.
1.3. Final judgement
The final grade takes into account several factors:
Quality of the knowledge, skills, competences:
a) appropriateness, accuracy and consistency of knowledge
b) appropriateness, accuracy and consistency of abilities
c) appropriateness, accuracy and consistency of ability to apply knowledge and understanding

Communication skills:
a) Ability of expression;
b) Proper use of the specific language of the discipline;
c) Logical skills and inherent consequentiality in communicating;
d) Ability to connect different subjects by finding the common points and establish a consistent overall design, i.e. taking care of structure, organization and logical connections of speech;
f) Ability to summarize also through the use of specific symbolism of each discipline and graphic expression of ideas and concepts, for example in form of formulas, schemes, equations.

Relational qualities:
Availability to exchange and interact with the teacher during the interview.

Personal qualities:
a) critical thinking;
b) ability of self-evaluation.

Consequently, the judgment can be:

a) Sufficient (from 18 to 20/30)
The candidate demonstrates little acquisition of theoretical knowledge, superficial level, many gaps. Modest communicative abilities, but still sufficient to support a coherent dialogue, logical capacity and consequentiality in fitting the subjects of elementary level; poor capacity of synthesis and rather stunted ability of graphical expression, scanty interaction with the teacher during the interview.

b) Moderate (21 to 23)
The applicant demonstrates a moderate acquisition of knowledge but lack of expatiation, a few gaps; communicative abilities more than sufficient to support a coherent dialogue; acceptable mastery of the scientific language, logical capacity and consequentiality in fitting the subjects of moderate complexity, good enough capacity of synthesis and acceptable ability of graphical expression.

c) Good (24 to 26)
The candidate demonstrates a rather large wealth of knowledge, moderate in-depth, with small gaps; satisfactory mastery of the communicative abilities and meaningful scientific language; dialogical ability and critical thinking well detectable, good capacity of synthesis and more than acceptable ability of graphical expression.

d) Outstanding (27 to 29)
The candidate demonstrates a very extensive wealth of notions, high in-depth, with marginal gaps; remarkable ability in communicating and high mastery of scientific language; remarkable dialogical capacity, good competence and relevant aptitude for logical synthesis, high capacity of synthesis and graphical expression.

e) Excellent (30)
The candidate demonstrates a wealth of very extensive and in-depth knowledge, irrelevant gaps, high capacity and high mastery in communicating through the scientific language; excellent dialogical ability and marked aptitude to make connections among different subjects, excellent ability to synthesize and very familiar with the graphical expression.

The praise is attributed to the candidates clearly above average, and whose notional, expressive, conceptual, logical limits, if any, as a whole are completely irrelevant.


Abeles, Frey, Jencks; Biochimica; Piccin
Baynes, Dominiczac; Biochimica per le discipline biomediche; Ambrosiana
Campbell, Farrell; Biochimica; EdiSES
Garrett, Grisham, Principi di Biochimica; Piccin
Nelson, Cox; I principi di Biochimica di Lehninger; Zanichelli

More Information

A collection of supporting learning material is freely available to students, prepared by the teachers of the course

Questionnaire and social

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