3 major themes, how are the connected to more than one topic and what you knew before, what knowledge have you gained?

Three major themes that were covered in this course were biomolecules such as lipids and amino acids, proteins etc...,DNA transcription and translation, and metabolic cycles, such as Glycolysis. Each of these processes, in reality, support and rely on each other.

Biomolecules are any organic molecules, including large polymeric molecules, such as proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids as well as small molecules, such as primary metabolites, secondary metabolites, and natural products. Biomolecules consist of primaily Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen and Oxygen. These biomolecules are all linked to DNA formation as well as metabolic pathways. I had a pretty decent understanding of this before this course, and actually learning more about it was helpful to me.

For DNA replication, translation is when the coded strand is being used for the new DNA strand to be formed. Each 3 bases form a codon that then makes up a certain protein. Throughout this course, this process was looked at thoroughly to the level of the subunit(s) on the strand bringing together anti - codon tRNA that also had the given amino acid attached. tRNA is what aids in the actual protein formation as it transfers specific amino acids to a growing peptide chain. This covalent linkage is catalyzed by an enzyme called aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. I have always been interested in how DNA works and how our cells replicate DNA. Learning more about this in Biochemistry helped me greatly to fully understand this process.

Each of these biomolecules are also utilized in the different metabolic processes that were covered in this course, such as Glycolysis, Electron Transport Chain, Oxidative Phosphorylation, and Lipid Metabolism. This is the area I knew most about due to the fact that I have gone over Glycolysis in great detail in my General Microbiology course, although this focused on prokaryotes, it was good to get a sense of how this process works in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

How Would You Explain The Connection Between Glucose Entering The Body and Energy Created By The Body To A Friend?

Glycolysis was the first biochemical pathway elucidated. In glycolysis, one molecule of glucose, which is a six - carbon compound, is converted to frucotse - 1,6 - bisphosphate. This compound eventually gives rise to two molecules of pyruvate, which is a three - carbon compound. The glycolytic pathway involves many steps that include the reactions in which metabolites of glucose are oxidized. Each reaction in glycolysis is catalyzed by an enzyme specific for that reaction. In each of two other reactions, one molecule of ATP is hydrolyzed for each molecule of glucose metabolized; the energy released in the hydrolysis of these two ATP molecules makes coupled endergonic reactions possible. In each of two other reactions, two molecules of ATP are produced by phosphorylation of ADP for each molecule of glucose. At the end of glycolysis, there is a total of 32 ATP produced for the body to use as energy. This process is ongoing and is essential for life.

What Knowledge Have You Connected With Past Knowledge

Since the midterm, we have learned about Thermodynamics, Carbohydrates, Glycolysis/ Storage Mechanisms, Citric Acid Cycle, Electron Transport Chain, Oxidative Phosphorylation and Lipid Metabolism. I have done a little bit of Thermodynamics in General Chemistry, so it was good to get a refresher on the theories and to see the math, even though we didn't use it in this course. The process of Glycolysis was a topic that we went over in GREAT detail in my General Microbiology course; we had to know every single part of the pathway, including all of the compounds, what was being removed/added, etc... Although, that was based all on bacterial Glycolysis, it was good to go over the eukaryotic aspect and see where the differences are with this. I felt as if this gave me a good view of how everything really works with energy and storage in the body/mitochondria and how exactly we get our energy (ATP or GTP). I felt as if the second half of this semester was very interesting and I learned some information that I did not know a lot about, such as the Lipid Metabolism and more about Oxidative Phosphorylation.

Student Questions from Telomerase and Cancer Class Presentation

I gave my presentation on Telomerase and Cancer on April 1st, 2010.

Student Questions:

Q: How does Gene Therapy and Immunotherapy affect cancer cells? Does it kill them or slow down the process?

A: Immunotherapy is a vaccine that is used to build up antibodies against telomerase so that telomere lengthening does not occur. For Gene Therapy, scientists are targeting the cancer cell's telomerase; trying to inhibit it so that the cancer cell's telomeres cannot lengthen during each cell division, instead the cell's telomeres will shorten in every cell division; the cell will eventually die just like our normal somatic cells do. Here is a website with more information about the future of telomerase inhibition:

http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v98/n4/full/6604209a.html

Find an interesting biochemistry website and put its link in this entry, and describe briefly what is found there.

http://www.asbmb.org is the American Society For Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's website. This site contains numerous amounts of information about biochemical and molecular research, which can be accessed by the publications tab. There are a number of journals linked to this page such as, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, and the Journal of Lipid Research. This website also contains information for Graduate research and funding and Undergraduate research awards can be given through this website as well. This site seems to be very informational and great for students who are looking for information. When you type in a search topic, it brings you right to the actual ASBMB journal. Another great attribute to this website is that it contains all of the individuals who won a Nobel Prize and for what they won the Prize. I found this part of the website very interesting and it is great to see a website that shows pride in these individuals. I can definitely see myself using this website for scientific information.

What knowledge have you connected with past knowledge?

Biochemistry has been a slightly more indepth discussion of topics that I have previously learned in other courses. In our last lecture, the discussion of enzymes and how they form an enzyme substrate complex with a particular substrate was discussed immensely in my General Microbiology course that I took last semester. Another section of this course that I have linked with another course was when talking about amino acids, and how tryptophan make us sleepy when we eat meat. I had learned about this is Anatomy and Physiology, but what I did not know was that the tryptophan is actually converted into serotonin. The information that is new to me so far in Biochemistry is the Michaelis - Menten Kinetics. I have never used this before, but considering it involves math, I think that I will understand it fairly well.

Find a protein using PDB explorer - describe your protein, including what disease state or other real - world application it has.

The image to the left is an octameric form of the Ebola Virus Matrix Protein Vp40. This specific protein in crucial for the assembly and budding of virus particles. This octamer binds to an RNA triribonucleotide containing the sequence 5" - U - G - A - 3" through it inner pore. SDS - resistant octameric Vp40 is found in Ebola infected cells, suggesting Vp40 has a function in the virus life cycle as well as promoting virus assembly and budding off of the plasma membrane. This protein contains alpha helices, two subunits, therefore showing quaternary structure and antiparallel beta pleated sheets.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/mmdb/mmdbsrv.cgi?Dopt=s&uid=72223&log$=seqview_protein_structuread_title