CU ACSB2012
Description of curricular units
1. Curricular Unit: Advances in Chemistry and Structural Biology
2. Curricular Unit code: ACSB
3. Faculty: Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica
4. Department:
5. Course: PhD in Biological and Chemical Sciences and Engineering
6. Course level: PhD
7. Type of Curricular Unit: Compulsory
8. Year of study plan: First year
9. Semester: First Semester
10. Number of credits: 4 ECTS
11. Coordinators: Beatriz Royo and Manuela M. Pereira
12. Number of hours/week: 60h of total contact in semester
13. Objectives of the Curricular Unit
The objective of this unit is to convey the importance of chemical and structural studies to the understanding of biological and chemical processes at a molecular level, as well as to introduce several technologies and experimental approaches used in Structural Biology and Biological Chemistry studies. We aim to broaden the student’s basic formation, which is usually either focused on Chemistry or Biology, in order to make them understand the need and importance of the cross-talk between the two areas and their respective valencies. After this unit the student should have developed the capacity to understand and analyse scientific papers based on chemical or structural studies, and come to recognise the potential of this type of studies for the research on a biological problem, namely during his PhD work.
14. Background requirements
None
15. Contents of the Curricular Unit
Lectures and Tutorials: Chemistry: A brief survival guide; Metals in medicine; Protein Structure and function; Lipids and membranes; Nucleic Acids; Bioinformatic tools; Introduction to Spectroscopy; Metals in Biology; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy; UV-Vis spectroscopy; Fluorescence and microscopy (FCS and FRET); Protein and Small Molecule Crystallography; Biomolecular modelling; Protein Structure Prediction; Vibrational spectroscopy; Protein Folding and Protein misfolding and disease; Mass spectrometry; Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy; Molecular Visualization; Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR); How to interpret X-ray Crystallographic Data; Case studies.
16. Bibliography
The bibliography will consist of recent scientific articles, some of which will be used as case studies to be presented and discussed in the tutorial sessions. The students will have access to the bibliography beforehand in order to prepare for the tutorials. Some reference books in the areas covered are available in the ITQB library:
Proteins: From Analytics to Structural Genomics (Hardcover)
by Robert A. Meyers (Editor) , Vols. I and II
Wiley-VCH Verlag (2007)
Biophysical Chemistry: Part I,II e III (Paperback)
by Charles R. Cantor (Author), Paul R. Schimmel (Author)
W. H. Freeman; 1 edition (1980)
Bioorganometallics: Biomolecules, Labeling, Medicine (Hardcover)
by Gerard Jaouen (Editor)- Stereochemistry of Organic Compounds, E. L. Eliel, S. H. Wilen
Wiley-Interscience (2006) 462 pages ISBN-10: 352730990X
Stereochemistry of Organic Compounds (Hardcover)
by Ernest L. Eliel (Author), Samuel H. Wilen (Author)
Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (1994)1267 pages ISBN-10: 0471016705
Supramolecular Chemistry (Paperback)
by Jonathan W. Steed (Author), Jerry L. Atwood (Author)
Wiley; 1 edition (2000) 772 pages ISBN-10: 0471987913
17. Teaching methods
The ACSB unit will have two components: lectures and tutorial sessions. The students will have to prepare for the tutorials in advance as they may be asked to make presentations and discuss selected case studies.
18. Evaluation
The evaluation will have a component based on a final written work (45%) and another component based on performance in tutorials and presentations (55%).
19. Language
English
