University of Houston
BCHS 3304: General Biochemistry I, Section 07553 Spring 2003 1:00-2:30 PM Mon./Wed. AH 101
Instructor:
Glen B. Legge, Ph.D., Cambridge UK Phone: 713-743-8380
Fax: 713-743-2636
E-mail: [email protected]
Office hours:
Mon. and Wed. (2:30-4:00 PM) or by appointment 353 SR2 (Science and Research Building 2)
Research Interests:
Molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion, using primarily multi dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
Course Outline
3 Exams and a Comprehensive Final (See Syllabus)
Tentatively, grades will be 15 % As, 20 % Bs, 35 % Cs, 25 % Ds, 5 % Fs
Four Homeworks-to be Handed in!!! I will grade it.
Homework counts 10% of your grade.
The Exams are based on the book, class notes, and homework. Those who do the homework honestly, will earn the better grades.
I encourage group homework and study sections. But each person in a group must pull their own weight, copied answers will be considered dishonest. Copying the homework and not fully participating, cheats yourself.
I can not return homework, so photocopy it for your records.
You will need to know the material! You can not just be familiar with it.
You will need to study about 2-3 hours a day!
This is a PROFESSIONAL COURSE
The lecture notes and solutions to the
homework will be on the Web!!
http://www.uh.edu/sibs/faculty/glegge
Remember the address is case sensitive.
These notes are not a substitute for class participation. These notes will be (even in an early form) will be posted before the lectures. They are intended to make you pay attention in class, take notes with you. Don’t sit in class and just copy notes!!
I strongly suggest you read the assigned material
before the lecture
.NOTE: Cell Biology and Biochemistry Labs
will meet the first week of classes.
Foundations of Biochemistry
•Universe is 15-20 billion years old –BIG BANG •Initially H2 was made then condensed to He
Stars formed-Stars died, Super novas exploded creating higher atomic number elements. Over the billions of years under the right conditions complex molecules formed. Complicated chemical reactions started occurring - intermolecular interactions and carbon based chemistry developed.
From this milieu sprang the property of
LIFE
Biochemistry is the study of this process on a chemical level
The Physical Laws of Life
•Living organisms operate within the same physical laws that apply to physics and chemistry:
•Conservation of Mass, Energy
•Laws of Thermodynamics •Laws of Chemical Kinetics
•Principles of Chemical Reactions
Molecular Logic of Life
These physical laws describe several axioms that make up the Molecular Logic of Life. These axioms define:
•Energy converted to work
•Catalytic chemical transformations
•Assembly of molecules with great complexity from simple subunits. •Complex molecules combine to form supra molecular components, organelles and finally assemble into a cell.
•Store and pass on instructions for the assembly of all future generations from simple non-living precursors
Common Functional Groups
•Arise from simple organic compounds
Condensation reactions
•Chemical Evolution, simple molecules condense to form more complex forms (polymers)
Replication through complementarity
• More complex moleculesincreases chemical versatility
• Specific pairing of
functional groups gives rise to complementarity
• Complementarity makes it possible for
macromolecules to replicate
• Over time natural selection favored molecules that
•Cell
multi cell, varied and diverse and evolutionary
processes lead to diversity but life has many common
themes and processes.
Organic compounds found in living organisms are a product of Biological Activity
Biomolecules are selected by evolution- the fit are kept, the
not fit are discarded.
The more fit remain and continue to evolve.
Biomolecules have the same bonds, bond lengths,
strength, 3D structures and chemical reactivities as
inanimate matter!
The vast complexity of the molecules, no matter how they interact, follow the physical laws of nature.
Therefore Physics and Chemistry must be able to
completely define life!!!
From 3D structure to antibody
interaction, hormone function to
replication and reproduction i.e..
from Birth-Death.
Life is defined within the
physical laws of Chemistry and
Physics
The Essential Role of Water
•H
2O is the key to understanding the behavior of
macromolecules. It is the solvent of life and all living
transformations occur in an aqueous media-
Life is thought to arise from the sea
.
•Even water-insoluble compounds such as lipid
membranes derive their nature and function by their
interactions with H
2O.
•Living organisms are composed of lifeless molecules
that conform to the physical laws of nature
.However, the collective
behavior of these many
molecules and their combined
interactions, yield extraordinary
properties
.