Biochemistry

CELLULAR MEMBRANES
- structure, organization, and functional properties
- roles of the specific lipid, protein and carbohydrate components
- lateral and trans-bilayer motions of lipids
- microdomains as functional compartments

TRANSPORT ACROSS MEMBRANES
- mechanisms, roles, and control of diffusion and solute transport in homeostasis
- features and types of protein-mediated transport
- pores, channels and ionophores
- passive transmembrane transporters of ions
- primary active transporters: ATPases and ATP-binding cassette transporters
- the solute carrier family: transporters of glucose, amino acids, organic and inorganic compounds
- overview of vesicular transport

BIOCHEMISTRY OF HORMONES
- chemical structure and properties of hormonal classes
- hormone biosynthesis and release
- hormonal control and cyclic hormonal systems
- hormone receptors and properties
- action mechanism of lipophilic and hydrophilic hormones

ENZYMES
- definition, structure and properties
- mechanisms and kinetics
- nomenclature
- factors affecting enzymatic activity
- enzyme cofactors
- coenzymes
- isoenzymes
- enzyme efficiency and specificity
- mechanisms of inhibition
- regulatory mechanisms of enzyme activity
- properties of allosteric enzymes
- pseudoenzymes and moonlighting enzymes
- medical relevance of enzymes

CELLULAR METABOLISM
- definition, purposes, and features
- metabolic pathways: types, interconnections and control strategies
- metabolomics and relevance in medicine
- metabolism and epigenetics

CELLULAR STRATEGIES FOR ENERGY TRANSFER AND USE
- high-energy compounds
- properties and role of ATP as energy transporter
- biological oxidations: coenzymes and role in homeostasis
- energy flux and energy transformation in cells
- ATP formation by substrate-level phosphorylation and oxidative phosphorylation

FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN NUTRITION
- functional types of nutrients
- essential nutrients and their importance in human health
- nutrient energy content: evaluation and measure units
- basal metabolic rate and factors influencing it
- total energetic requirement, its components and energetic needs for physical activity

THE TRICARBOXYLIC ACID CYCLE
- substrates, products, enzymes, cofactors, sites of energy recovery, and regulation
- the amphibolic role of the TCA cycle and roles of anaplerotic reactions
- the signaling role of the TCA cycle

THE MITOCHONDIAL RESPIRATORY CHAIN
- components, organization, and properties, energy flow
- the process of mitochondrial electron transfer
- inhibitors of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and role for altered mitochondrial respiratory chain in human diseases

ATP SYNTHASE
- structure and functional components, coupling between the respiratory chain and ATP formation
- mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation
- the ATP/ADP cycle, and the concept of respiratory control
- inhibitors and uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation
- the key role of O2 in cells, and its different uses

REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES
- definition and types of reactive oxygen species, production and clearance, effects in physiological and physio-pathological conditions
- nitric oxide production, functions and toxicity
- antioxidant defenses and redox homeostasis

METABOLISM OF CARBOHYDRATES
- structural and functional features of the major carbohydrates relevant to human metabolism
- digestion and absorption of dietary carbohydrates
- major metabolic fates of glucose and their roles
- glucose phosphorylation, importance in metabolism, and medical application in PET
- the glycolytic pathway
- energy production from anaerobic and aerobic glycolysis
- regulation of glycolysis by local and hormonal control
- metabolic fates of pyruvate produced by glycolysis
- shuttle mechanisms for transfer of reducing equivalents from cytosol to mitochondria
- role of glycolytic intermediates and pyruvate as precursors for biosynthesis
- origins and metabolic fate of fructose and galactose in humans
- the polyol pathway
- the pentose phosphate pathway
- origin and roles of NADPH in different cells
- glutathione metabolism and functions
- glycogen: localization, function, and its advantages as energy storage, local and systemic roles of glycogen as glucose store, glycogen metabolism, its enzymes and mechanisms of regulation
- the medical importance of glycogen storage diseases

GLYCOCONJUGATES
- structure and functions
- types, origins, and activation of the monosaccharide units
- metabolism of O- glycoproteins and N-glycoproteins
- metabolism of glycosphingolipids

METABOLISM OF LIPIDS
- dietary lipids and fatty acids found in foods
- structure and role of essential fatty acids
- emulsification, enzymatic digestion and absorption of dietary lipids
- mechanisms of inter-organ transport of different lipids in blood
- lipoproteins: classification, composition, types, and roles
- fatty acid activation and metabolic fates
- fatty acid β-oxidation mechanisms and control
- peroxisomal oxidation of fatty acids
- fatty acid -oxidation
- ketone bodies: structure, metabolism, and metabolic relevance
- fatty acid biosynthesis: location, substrates, multi-enzyme complex mechanism, and regulation
- differences between β-oxidation and biosynthesis of fatty acids
- fatty acid chain elongation and desaturation
- triacylglycerides: structure, metabolism, and role as energy store
- structure, metabolism, and properties of glycerophospholipids, eicosanoids, and endocannabinoids
- cholesterol structure, functions, dietary origin and endogenous origin, esterification, transport in blood and into cells
- structure, origin and fate of LDL and HDL

METABOLISM OF AMINO ACIDS
- origins of amino acids in humans, digestion of dietary proteins
- intestinal amino acid and peptide transport
- protein turnover and mechanism of protein catabolism
- proteosomal proteolysis
- transamination of amino acids: mechanism, roles and importance of aminotransferases in medicine
- precursors, cofactors, and fundamentals of the biosynthesis of amino acids
- nitrogen balance and its physiological and pathological variations
- ammonia: formation, blood transport, and strategies for elimination
- urea cycle, its regulation and connection between urea cycle and tricarboxylic acid cycle

METABOLISM OF NUCLEOTIDES
- de novo synthesis and recycling pathways, catabolism, and medical significance of uric acid

VITAMINS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
- sources, biochemical functions, and health benefits of hydrophilic and hydrophobic vitamins, consequences of vitamin deficiencies and excesses

METABOLIC INTERRELATIONSHIPS
- circulating and tissue stores of energy
- blood glucose regulation: endocrine control and relevance
- metabolic adaptations in the fed and fasting state
- metabolic adaptations in stress conditions