Monday 19 September 2011

Biological Chemistry

Chemical Biology research uses the tools of chemistry and synthesis to understand biology and disease pathways at the molecular level. Advanced Biological Chemistry interests include diverse topics such as nucleic acids, DNA repair, bioconjugate chemistry, peptides and peptidomimetics, glycoscience, biomolecular structure and function, imaging, and biological catalysis. Biophysical Chemistry represents the union of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology using a variety of experimental and theoretical approaches to understand the structure and function of biological systems. Advanced Biophysical Chemistry use different techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, x-ray crystallography, ultra-fast spectroscopy, as well as statistical and quantum mechanical theory to study the molecular details of important biological processes, such as: protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, protein structure and function, enzyme mechanisms, photosynthesis and neuronal transduction.



Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, also known as sugars, are found in all living organisms. They are essential to the very source of life (ex. Ribose sugars in DNA and RNA) or sustaining life itself (ex. Metabolic conversion of carbohydrates into usable biochemical energy, ATP). Another important role of carbohydrates is structural (ex. Cellulose in plants).

Lipids

Lipids are biomolecules which are soluble in organic non-polar solvents. Consequently, fats and lipids are insoluble in water. Glycerides and waxes form a sub-group of compounds which have an ester as the major functional group and include: waxes, triglycerides, and phospholipids. Another diverse group of compounds which do not have any ester functional groups are also classified as lipids including: steroids, fatty acids, soaps, sphingolipids, and prostaglandins.


Proteins
Proteins are probably the most important class of biochemical molecules, although of course lipids and carbohydrates are also essential for life. Proteins are the basis for the major structural components of animal and human tissue. Proteins are natural polymer molecules consisting of amino acid units. The number of amino acids in proteins may range from two to several thousand.
Enzymes
Enzymes are catalysts, most are proteins. Enzymes bind temporarily to one or more of the reactants of the reaction they catalyze. In doing so, they lower the amount of activation energy needed and thus speed up the reaction.
Nucleic Acids
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a macromolecule that consists of deoxyribonucleotide monomers linked to each other by phosphodiester bonds. The sequence of these nucleotides contains translates into a genetic blueprint by which a cell can synthesize proteins.




Biochemical Energy
  1. Basics
  2. ATP/ADP
  3. Metabolism
  4. Carbohydrates
    1. Lipid
    2. Proteins

Vitamins, Cofactors and Coenzymes


Food Chemistry

Pharmaceutical Chemistry

A very broad definition of a drug would include "all chemicals other than food that affect living processes." If the affect helps the body, the drug is a medicine. However, if a drug causes a harmful effect on the body, the drug is a poison. The same chemical can be a medicine and a poison depending on conditions of use and the person using it. Another definition would be "medicinal agents used for diagnosis, prevention, treatment of symptoms, and cure of diseases."




Photoactive Biology
Typically, both photo transduction and enzymatic activities occur with the aid of internal co-factors embedded in the protein scaffolding (e.g. chlorophyll in photosynthetic proteins, heme molecules in oxygen binding proteins and vitamins in enzymes). Since proteins are constructed from a combination of 20 naturally occurring amino acids, each with unique properties such as charge, polarity, polarizability and structure, a complex set of potential interactions can result between the protein environment and embedded cofactors. To ensure that biological functions occur efficiently, Nature has fine-tuned the properties of protein environments to optimize specific features of embedded reactions.




Quantitative structure-activity Relationships

Metabolism

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