Syllabus for Biochemistry (XL: Section I)

(Optional Section)

Organization of life. Importance of water. Cell structure and organelles. Structure and function of biomolecules: Amino acids, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins and Nucleic acids. Biochemical separation techniques and characterization: ion exchange, size exclusion and affinity chromatography, electrophoresis, UV-visible, fluorescence and Mass spectrometry. Protein structure, folding and function: Myoglobin, Hemoglobin, Lysozyme, Ribonuclease A, Carboxypeptidase and Chymotrypsin. Enzyme kinetics including its regulation and inhibition, Vitamins and Coenzymes.

Metabolism and bioenergetics. Generation and utilization of ATP. Metabolic pathways and their regulation: glycolysis, TCA cycle, pentose phosphate pathway, oxidative phosphorylation, gluconeogenesis, glycogen and fatty acid metabolism. Metabolism of Nitrogen containing compounds: nitrogen fixation, amino acids and nucleotides. Photosynthesis: the Calvin cycle.

Biological membranes. Transport across membranes. Signal transduction; hormones and neurotransmitters.

DNA replication, transcription and translation. Biochemical regulation of gene expression. Recombinant DNA technology and applications: PCR, site directed mutagenesis and DNA-microarray.

Immune system. Active and passive immunity. Complement system. Antibody structure, function and diversity. Cells of the immune system: T, B and macrophages. T and B cell activation. Major histocompatibilty complex. T cell receptor. Immunological techniques: Immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, RIA and ELISA.