BIOCHEMICAL METHODOLOGIES
cod. 12622

Academic year 2007/08
2° year of course - First semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Biochimica (BIO/10)
Field
Discipline biochimiche, biomolecolari e genetiche
Type of training activity
Characterising
30 hours
of face-to-face activities
3 credits
hub:
course unit
in - - -

Learning objectives

<br />The course aims at providing a systematic introduction to the main biochemical techniques for the identification, purification and functional characterization of macromolecules.

Prerequisites

<br />Pre-requisites (strongly recommended): basic courses in Physics, Chemistry, Microbiology and Biochemistry.

Course unit content

<br />Cell fractionation.<br />Centrifugative techniques: differential centrifugation, density gradient centrifugation.<br />Protein extraction and purification. <br />Chromatography of biomacromolecules: ion-exchange, size exclusion and affinity chromatography. HPLC.<br />Electrophoresis: principles and applications. SDS-PAGE, isoelectrofocusing, 2D-PAGE.<br />Immunochemical techniques: immunoprecipitation, ELISA, Western blotting.<br />Spectrophotometry and fluorescence spectroscopy.<br />Use of radioisotopes in the biochemistry laboratory. Geiger counters, scintillation counters, autoradiography and phosphorimaging<br />Enzyme assays: continuous, discontinuous and based on coupled reactions. Activity units.<br />Introduction to mass spectrometry.

Full programme

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Bibliography

Rob Reed, David Holmes, Jonathan Weyers, Alla Jones<br />Metodologie di base per le scienze biomolecolari<br />Zanichelli, Bologna, 2002<br />

Teaching methods

<br />The course is constituted by formal classroom presentations.<br />The final assessment of the students will be based on a written test.

Assessment methods and criteria

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Other information

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