Master's In Medical Biochemistry

Explore carbohydrate structure and classification, covering disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and homo- and heteropolysaccharides. Grasp the basics of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) as they relate to medical biochemistry.

Explore glycolysis from its stepwise sequence to energetics and regulation, including shunts and the Warburg effect, to understand metabolic control in medical biochemistry.

Trace pyruvate fate after glycolysis, from oxidation to acetyl coenzyme a via pyruvate dehydrogenase, to lactate and alanine, linking glycolysis to mitochondria and tricarboxylic acid cycle, yielding five adenosine triphosphate.

Explore the TCA cycle, also known as Krebs or citric acid cycle, an amphibolic mitochondrial matrix pathway that oxidizes acetyl coenzyme A to CO2 and generates ATP equivalents.

Explore the regulation of glycogen metabolism in medical biochemistry, focusing on glycogenesis and glycogenolysis, to clarify how these pathways operate.

Explore glycogen storage disorders by type, their deficient enzymes, and key clinical clues, from Von Gierke's disease to Pompe's and McAddle's diseases, with liver and muscle involvement.

Explore minor carbohydrate pathways: galactose and fructose metabolism, including galactosemia and hereditary fructose intolerance, and polyol pathway roles.

Explore qualitative carbohydrate analysis using Molisch, iodine, Barfoid's, Benedict's, and Selvinoff's tests, distinguishing monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, reducing versus non-reducing sugars, and aldose versus ketose.

Discover how amino acids assemble into proteins via peptide bonds and Ramachandran angles, and how primary to quaternary structures confer stability and function with insulin and hemoglobin.

Examine amino acid metabolism by nitrogen skeleton, including transamination with PLP, oxidative deamination, nitrogen balance, and the urea cycle, plus ammonia transport via glutamine and alanine.

Explore the urea cycle in the liver, detailing its five steps, key enzymes (CPS1, OTC, argininosuccinate synthetase, argininosuccinase, arginase), and regulation via N-acetylglutamate, energetics, and related inborn errors.

Glycine metabolism shows its non-essential, optically inactive nature and its roles in heme, glutathione, creatine, and purine synthesis through interconversion with serine and the glycine cleavage system.

Trace tryptophan metabolism through the kynurenine and serotonin pathways, linking niacin synthesis, serotonin and melatonin production, and the implications for pellagra, Hartnupps disease, and carcinoid syndrome.

Explore branched chain amino acid metabolism (leucine, isoleucine, valine) via transamination, oxidative decarboxylation, and dehydrogenation, noting glucogenic and ketogenic outcomes and related disorders maple syrup urine disease and isovaleric acidemia.

Aspartate and glutamate are glucogenic acidic amino acids that undergo transamination to oxaloacetate and alpha-ketoglutarate, support glutamine synthesis for ammonia transport, and relate to Canavan disease.

Explore the metabolism of the basic amino acids lysine, arginine, and histidine, including glucogenic/ketogenic fates, urea synthesis, and products like carnitine, nitric oxide, and histamine.

Explore the structure and classification of lipids, including triglycerides and fatty acids, and learn how essential, omega, and cis–trans fatty acids influence energy, cell membranes, and prostaglandin synthesis.

Explore conjugate lipids, including phospholipids and glycolipids, their roles in cell membranes and lung surfactant, and major classes such as glycerophospholipids and sphingophospholipids.

Lipoproteins form when apoproteins bind lipids, enabling transport of triglycerides and cholesterol in circulation; electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation separate chylomicrons, VLDL, LDL, and HDL by size or density.

Explore sphingolipidoses, lysosomal storage disorders caused by deficient sphingolipid-degrading enzymes leading to cerebroside and ganglioside accumulation. Learn about Gaucher, Tay-Sachs, Niemann-Pick, Fabry, Krabbe, Sandhoff, with features cherry-red spots and hepatosplenomegaly.

Explore chylomicron metabolism, from nascent chylomicron formation with apoB48, apoC2, and apoE, through LPL-driven triglyceride clearance in adipose tissue. Remnant uptake by the liver occurs via ApoE receptor-mediated endocytosis.

Examine how nascent VLDL assembles with ApoB100, ApoC2, and ApoE, transports endogenous triglycerides from the liver, and converts to IDL and LDL through LPL activity and receptor-mediated pathways.

Explore HDL metabolism and reverse cholesterol transport, detailing apoA1-activated LCAT, discoidal to spherical HDL conversion, and how ABCA1, ABCG1, SRB1 promote cholesterol ester transfer to the liver.

This lecture explains lipoprotein biology and dyslipidemias, detailing primary hyperlipoproteinemias 1, 2a, 3 and hypolipoproteinemias Tangier's disease and A-beta lipoproteinemia, with associated clinical features.

Explore cholesterol chemistry: its amphipathic structure and de novo synthesis from acetyl coenzyme A. Learn HDL transport, LCAT-mediated cholesterol ester formation, and the fate toward bile acids and hormones.

Explore beta oxidation of long-chain fatty acids in mitochondria, activated to acyl-CoA and carried by the carnitine shuttle, yielding acetyl-CoA and energy.

Explore the beta-oxidation of very long-chain fatty acids, their peroxisomal first steps producing octenoyl coA and acetyl coenzyme A, and the minor alpha and omega oxidation pathways.

Examine metabolic errors of fatty acid oxidation, including MCAD deficiency causing SIDS, Jell-Wegger's syndrome, Refsom's disease from impaired alpha oxidation, and Jamaican vomiting sickness.

Lipogenesis is the cytoplasmic, well-fed synthesis of fatty acids from acetyl-CoA via citrate shuttle, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and fatty acid synthase, regulated by insulin and glucagon.

Learn how the liver's mitochondria form ketone bodies: acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate from acetyl-CoA. Explore ketolysis in extrahepatic tissues and the roles of starvation, diabetes, and DKA.

Explore biological oxidation via the mitochondrial electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation, detailing complexes I–IV, redox partners, ATP synthesis, and inhibitors and uncouplers.

Explore the TCA cycle, also known as Krebs or citric acid cycle, in the mitochondrial matrix as an amphibolic hub of energy production and anabolic processes.

Explore vitamin A as a fat-soluble vitamin with retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid, its role in the vision cycle including rhodopsin, plus liver storage and deficiency or toxicity.

Explore vitamin K, a fat-soluble coenzyme with forms - K1 phylloquinone, K2 mannquinone, and K3 mannadione - and its epoxide reductase cycle, linking deficiency and toxicity to bleeding and hemolysis.

Discover how vitamin b1, as thiamine pyrophosphate, acts as a coenzyme in oxidative decarboxylation and energy metabolism, and its deficiency causing beriberi and Wernicke's encephalopathy and Korsakoff psychosis.

Learn about riboflavin (vitamin B2), its active forms FAD and FMN, and its redox coenzyme role, yellow urine, and deficiency signs like chelosis and glossitis.

The body synthesizes niacin from tryptophan (60 mg yields 1 mg) and uses nad/nadp for redox reactions in metabolism, linking pellagra risk and toxicity.

Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid, and SH-CoA drive acetyl CoA and acyl CoA formation, fueling cholesterol, fatty acid synthesis, and ketone bodies, produced by intestinal flora; deficiency: Gopalan burning feet syndrome.

Examine how pyridoxal phosphate acts as a coenzyme in transamination, transsulfuration, decarboxylation, glycogenolysis, and heme and niacin synthesis; cover deficiency signs and biomarkers like xanthurenic acid and homocysteine.

Explore vitamin B7, a water-soluble energy releasing vitamin, and its biotin coenzyme role in carboxylation reactions, deficiency from raw egg avidin or antibiotics, with symptoms like alopecia and acidosis.

Vitamin C, a water-soluble ascorbic acid, acts as an antioxidant and cofactor for collagen hydroxylation, norepinephrine synthesis, and iron absorption, with scurvy causing bleeding gums and delayed wound healing.

Explore vitamin B9 (folate) and its role in one-carbon metabolism for thymine, purines, and methionine synthesis; learn about folate trap in B12 deficiency and figlu tests.

Explore vitamin B12 absorption via intrinsic factor and cubulin in the ileum, its adenosyl- and methylcobalamin forms, and deficiency links to methylmalonic aciduria and pernicious anemia.

Explore fat-soluble vitamins d and e, where d is activated to calcitriol in liver and kidneys to regulate calcium and phosphorus, and e acts as a potent chain-breaking antioxidant.

Explore the de novo and salvage pathways of purine nucleotide synthesis, including adenine and guanine formation from ribose 5-phosphate, PRPP, and key enzymes, with regulation by feedback inhibition.

Trace purine catabolism from AMP, IMP, and GMP to uric acid, and explain salvage defects like HGPRT deficiency, gout and tophi, and Leish-Naghan, Kelly-Siegmiller, and SCID syndromes, with allopurinol therapy.

Learn the cytoplasmic de novo synthesis of pyrimidines, from carbamoyl phosphate to UMP, with CPS2 as the rate-limiting enzyme and folate-driven thymidylate formation, including drug relevance.

Explore the structure and properties of DNA, including deoxyribose, bases, and base pairing rules. Learn Chargaff's rules, GC content, melting temperature, and DNA organization with histones and nucleosomes.

DNA replication is semi-conservative, occurs in the S phase, and uses origins, replication forks, leading and lagging strands with Okazaki fragments, guided by helicases, topoisomerases, primase, SSB, and DNA polymerases.

Explore DNA polymerases, proofreading and repair mechanisms, including nucleotide and base excision repair, and link defects like Xeroderma pigmentosum to UV endonuclease deficiency and disease.

Learn how RNA polymerase initiates transcription at promoter sequences and synthesizes RNA from a DNA template. Explore post-transcriptional processing—capping, tailing, and splicing—to produce mature mRNA.

Explore ribonucleic acid fundamentals, including ribose, uracil, and major RNA types - mRNA, tRNA, and rRNA - and differentiate coding from noncoding RNA.

Explore how translation uses ribosomes, mRNA codons, and tRNA anticodons to initiate, elongate, and terminate polypeptides. Learn how ATP and GTP power aminoacyl tRNA synthetase and peptidyl transferase.

Explore translation inhibitors in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including streptomycin and tetracycline targeting 30S. Learn how chloramphenicol inhibits peptidyl transferase and cycloheximide blocks the eukaryotic 60S ribosome.

Explore post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation, hydroxylation, carboxylation, methylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, and adp ribosylation. See how they regulate collagen, coagulation, histone control, and degradation with vitamin C and vitamin K examples.

Explore epigenetics and genomic imprinting, focusing on DNA methylation of CpG islands, histone acetylation, and the Prader–Willi vs Angelman syndromes via paternal and maternal imprinting.

Learn how recombinant dna technology uses restriction endonucleases, vectors, and host cells. Isolate the gene of interest, ensure an origin of replication, and build genomic libraries to screen recombinant clones.

Explore heme metabolism from mitochondrial synthesis and ALA synthase regulation to bilirubin conjugation, albumin transport, and porphyrias and jaundice.

Learn the respiratory quotient and its values—carbs 1.0, fats 0.7, proteins 0.8, mixed diet 0.85. During starvation or diabetes, RQ lowers; insulin raises it, and ketone bodies 0.7 become energy.