COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES & MATHEMATICS

http://nsm.uh.edu

COURSE TITLE: BCHS3304-02: General Biochemistry I; Class number: 10678 TIME: Mon/Wed 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM; Sec 101 FACULTY: Juan D. Pita, Ph.D. OFFICE HOURS: Fri (3:00-6:00 PM), or by appointment. Anytime I can be reached by email for questions. OFFICE: Houston Science Center (HSC) 358 E-mail: jdpitaal@central.uh.edu Phone: 713-743-8382 FAX: 713-743-8351

Required Prerequisite Courses: CHEM 3221 (Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry I Lab) and CHEM 3331 (Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry I) Disclaimer: The schedule and topics below are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, including, but not limited to, instructor illness or class cancellations due to inclement weather.

I.

Course A. Catalog Description Nature of the chemical constituents of living organisms, including carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and enzymes.

II.

Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, students will know: 1. 2. 3. 4. Amino acid identity, structures, properties, and functions. Protein structure and function, including hemoglobin. Enzyme mechanisms and kinetics. The glycolysis and gluconeogenesis pathways and the citric acid cycle.

II.

Course Content
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BCHS 3304 Lecture Schedule

Lect # 1 (19 Jan) 2 (24 Jan) 3 (26 Jan) 4 (31 Jan) 5 (2 Feb) (2 Feb) 6 (7 Feb) 7 (9 Feb) 8 (14 Feb) 9 (16 Feb) 10 (21 Feb) 11 (23 Feb) 12 (28 Feb) 13 (2 Mar) 14 (7 Mar) 15 (9 Mar) (14-19 Mar) 16 (21 Mar) 17 (23 Mar) 11 12 6&5 5 7 7 7 11 5 6 Chap. 1 2 2&4 4 4&5 Lecture Topic Introduction to the Chemistry of Life Water Water and Amino Acids Amino Acids Amino Acids and Protein: Primary Structure (Last day to drop a course or withdraw without receiving a grade) Proteins: Primary Structure Proteins: Three-Dimensional Structure Covers Lectures 1-6, Chaps. 1, 2, 4, 5 Protein Structure and Purification Protein Purification Protein Function: Myoglobin and Hemoglobin Protein Function: Myoglobin and Hemoglobin Protein Function: Actin/Myosin and Antibodies Enzyme Catalysis Exam covers Lects. 7-14, Chap. 5-7, 11 (partial) Spring Break, No Class Enzyme Catalysis Enzyme Kinetics, Inhibition, and Regulation EXAM II EXAM I Exam

18 (28 Mar) 19 (30 Mar) 20 (4 Apr) (5 Apr) 21 (6 Apr) 22 (11 Apr) 23 (13 Apr) 24 (18 Apr) 25 (20 Apr) 26 (25 Apr) 27 (27Abr) 28 (2May)

12 14 14&8

Enzyme Kinetics, Inhibition, and Regulation Introduction to Metabolism Introduction to Metabolism & Carbohydrates (Last day to drop a course or withdraw)

Carbohydrates Lect. 15-21, Chaps. 8 (partial), 11, 12, 14 EXAM III

15 15 15 16 17 17

Glucose Catabolism Glucose Catabolism Glucose Catabolism Gluconeogenesis Citric Acid Cycle Citric Acid Cycle

Comprehensive Final Exam Fri., May 6, 5pM 8PM, SEC 101 IV. Course Structure The course consists of lectures covering the most salient features of the associated material in the book chapters. There will be three regular exams and a final exam. Students are required to attend all lectures and take all exams. Textbooks Required Textbooks: (1) Voet, D., Voet, J., and Pratt, C.W. Fundamentals of Biochemistry, 3rd Edition, ISBN-13: 978-0470-12930-2 (2) Uzman, Eichberg, Widger, Voet, Voet, and Pratt Student Companion to Accompany Fundamentals of Biochemistry, ISBN: 978-0470-22842-5 This study guide (Student Companion) is extremely important - it is designed to answer the question: What am I expected to know?
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V.

VI

Course Requirements/Information All students are required to attend all lectures and take all exams. Homework: Homework problems will be assigned from the textbook, Student Companion, and other materials before the class. Only a selected subset of the assigned homework will be covered directly in the lectures. The best way to learn Biochemistry is to work the assigned problems. Group study and discussion is encouraged to finish the homework. Homework will NOT be collected or graded. However, Regular Exams and the Final Exam will be based in part on the assigned homework. Understanding the material covered by homework will be the key to obtain high scores on exams. Answers to the homework problems can be found in the back of the textbook, Student Companion, and/or in class notes. Answer Keys: Relevant scantron answer keys, lecture notes, and other useful information will be posted on blackboard vista. Drop policy: Students who have not taken an exam and have not stated their intention to remain in the class might be dropped from the mid-term class rolls, however, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to drop from the course if they so desire. Students may drop any time on or before February 2 and will receive a grade of W. Students dropping after February 2 and before or on April 5 must have a passing grade based on exams to earn a W. If a student drops before the date for the first exam, a "W" will be assigned on the drop form. Students may not drop the course after April 5. Academic Honesty Policy: Cheating or any other suspected violations of academic honesty will not be tolerated. Please refer to the University of Houston Student Handbook for a description of academic honesty policies. Suspected violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Dept. of Biology & Biochemistry Associate Chair of Undergraduate Affairs and if substantiated could result in the student receiving a zero for an exam or a grade of F for the course. Addendum: Whenever possible, and in accordance with 504/ADA guidelines, the University of Houston will attempt to provide reasonable academic accommodations to students who request and require them. Please call 713-743-5400 for more assistance.

VII.

Evaluation and Grading Grading scale for the course: The most likely grading scale for the course will be: 100-90.0 89.9-89.0 88.9-88.0 87.9-80.0 79.9-79.0 A AB+ B B4

78.9-78.0 77.9-70.0 69.9-69.0 68.9-68.0 67.9-60.0 < 60

C+ C CD+ D F

If there is a change from this scale based on student performance throughout the entire length of the course, it will only change in your favor (i.e., bottom ends of grading scales may decrease but they will not increase). Exams: Regular Exams and the Final Exam will be based on lecture material, assigned textbook reading, study exercises, and homework. Exams are closed book. Calculators and pencils should be brought to all exams. You may not use any pre-programmed equations or data in your calculator. There will be three in-class Regular Exams plus a Final Exam. Overall grade will be calculated based on the two highest in-class Regular Exams scores and the score on the Final Exam. The lowest score from one the three regular exams will be dropped off. The Final Exam will have the same weight as a Regular Exam. The final exam must be taken and the score on the final will not be dropped for the grade calculation. The Final Exam will be comprehensive (covers entire course), however, ca. 25% of the Final Exam will be based on Chapters 15, 16, and 17. All exam materials, including exam, scantron, and scratch paper must be turned in to the instructor or a proctor at the end of the test period. No make-up exams will be given. You can choose not to take one of the regular exams, which means you lose the chance of dropping the lowest score. Availability of exam results: All exam scores will be posted via Blackboard vista. Exams solutions will be posted in HSC. Location to be announced. Incomplete Grade Policy: A temporary grade of I can be assigned by the instructor when a student is currently (a) passing a course or (b) still has a reasonable chance of passing in the judgment of the instructor, but for nonacademic reasons beyond their control have not completed a relatively small part of all requirements. After the student and instructor agree that the student shall receive an I grade, an Incomplete Grade Agreement form must be completed and filed with the Office of Undergraduate Affairs (124f Science Building). It is the students responsibility to see to it that this form is filled out and delivered. Further information on I grades can be found at http://www.uh.edu/dos/hdbk.