Studies in English

Medical Biochemistry

Medical Biochemistry

Aims: The course aims to provide an understanding of the core principles and topics of Medical Biochemistry, and to enable students to acquire a specialised knowledge and understanding of selected aspects of pathobiochemical processes. Medical biochemistry course includes following general principles set in particular contexts: Chemical and biological foundations of biochemistry, Structure and catalysis, Bioenergetics and metabolism, Tissue metabolism, Information pathways, Cell cycle, Signaling and Cancer. In addition, the course aims to provide the students with analytical and presentational skills. This will be achieved via seminars and laboratory classes. The student will actively participate in oral presentation of contemporary biochemical topics during seminars, as well as, in performance of different methods through practical exercises, which are conceptually based on clinical biochemistry practice.

 

Professor Tatjana Simić

Professor Nataša Petronijević

Professor Ivanka Marković

Professor Aleksandra Isaković

Professor Ana Savić-Radojević

Professor Marija Plješa-Ercegovac

Professor Marija Matić

Professor Sonja Misirlić-Denčić

Associate professor Tatjana Đukić

Associate professor Željka Stanojević

Associate professor Tatjana Nikolić

Assistant professor Vesna Ćorić

Assistant professor Anđelka Isaković

Assistant professor Milica Velimirović Bogosavljević

Assistant professor Tihomir Stojković

Assistant professor Sašenka Vidičević Novaković

Teaching assistant with PhD Djurdja Jerotić

Teaching assistant Marija Jeremić

Teaching assistant Janko Zeković

Teaching assistant Tamara Stanisavljević

Teaching assistant Sanja Blagojević

Teaching assistant Milica Živković

 

Medical Biochemistry course is organized in 20 weeks of teaching and starts 9 weeks after beginning of a academic year, following the Chemistry course. The total of 165 hours of Medical Biochemistry course is organized as 3 hours of lectures, 3 hours of seminars and 2-3 hours of laboratory classes per week. During the course, continuous evaluation of students' knowledge and activity is performed through two colloquia, five short mini-essays and activity on seminars.

 

 I

Lecture:

Enzymes as catalysts-general aspects

 

Seminar:

Structure-function relationship in proteins.

Regulation of the amount and protein/enzyme quality in the cell

 

Lab:

General properties of enzymes and regulation of enzyme activity

 II

Lecture:

Regulation of enzyme activity

 

Seminar:

Enzyme structure. The role of coenzymes in the enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

Mechanisms of enzyme catalysis

 

Lab:

Enzyme kinetics

III

 

Lecture:

Basic aspects of metabolism. Digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, protein and lipids

 

Seminar:

Regulation of metabolic pathways: covalent and noncovalent mechanisms 

 

Lab:

Diagnostic enzymology

IV

Lecture:

The respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation

 

Seminar:

Clinical significance of enzymes 

 

Lab:

Digestion

V

Lecture:

The tricarboxylic acid cycle- reactions and regulation

 

Seminar:

Biological oxidation-reduction reactions and oxidative phosphorylation

 

Lab:

Oxidative phosphorylation

VI

Lecture:

Carbohydrate metabolism -part 1

 

Seminar:

PDH complex. The central role of tricarboxylic acid cycle (Krebs cycle) in metabolism

 

Lab:

Carbohydrates: glucose

VII

Lecture:

Carbohydrate metabolism- part 2

 

Seminar:

Regulation of glucose metabolism. Metabolic effects of glucose-6-phosphate

 

Lab:

Carbohydrates: glucose and glycogen

VIII

Lecture:

Lipid metabolism

 

Seminar:

Fatty acid and triacylglycerol synthesis. Fatty acid oxidation.

Ketone body metabolism.

 

Lab:

Lipids

IX

Lecture:

Metabolism of amino acids

 

Seminar:

Cholesterol synthesis. Bile salts metabolism.

Clinical significance of lipoproteins

 

Lab:

Nonprotein nitrogen metabolites

X

Lecture:

Purine and pyrimidine metabolism. DNA- organization and replication

 

Seminar:

Complex carbohydrates and complex lipids.

Eicosanoids

 

Lab:

Main recombinant DNA techniques used in medicine

XI

Lecture:

RNA- structure, synthesis and processing

 

Seminar:

Amino acid catabolism. Urea cycle.

Amino acids important for the synthesis of some biologically important compounds

 

Lab:

Plasma and serum proteins  I

XII

Lecture:

Protein synthesis and degradation

 

Seminar:

Synthesis and degradation of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides. Regulation.

Control of gene expression at transcription level - basal transcription factors.

Regulation of RNA polymerase activity

 

Lab:

Plasma and serum proteins II

XIII

Lecture:

Biological membranes and transport. Signal transduction -part 1

 

Seminar:

Control of gene expression at translation level.

Translation and posttranslational processing of proteins in Endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi 

 

Lab:

Metabolites of porphyrins in serum and urine

XIV

 

Lecture:

General features of signal transduction -part 2. Hormones: insulin, glucagon

 

Seminar:

Intracellular and extracellular communication: signal transduction pathways

 

Lab:

Liver function examination

XV

 

Lecture:

Thyroid  hormones and hormones involved in regulation of calcium metabolism

 

Seminar:

Hormones 1: The hypothalamic-pituitary axis.

Adrenal cortex hormones. Sex hormones

 

Lab:

Electrolytes in serum

XVI

Lecture:

Steroid hormones

 

Seminar:

Hormones 2: Pancreatic hormones.

Adrenal medulla hormones

 

Lab:

Urine

XVII

Lecture:

Basic concept of cell structure. Tissue metabolism-part  1

 

Seminar:

Hormones 3: Hormones that regulate calcium homeostasis. Vitamin D.

Thyroid gland hormones

 

Lab:

Oxidative stress

XVIII

Lecture:

Tissue metabolism -part 2

 

Seminar:

The integration of metabolism in fed state, fasting and starvation (the role of liver, muscles and adipose tissue)

 

Lab:

Antioxidant enzymes and nonenzymatic antioxidants

XIX

Lecture:

Vitamins and minerals

 

Seminar:

The role of liver in detoxification (xenobiotics and ethanol).

The role of liver in synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds.

Oxidative stress and antioxidant defence

XX

Lecture:

Oncogenesis and cell cycle

 

Seminar:

The tissue specificity of human metabolism

 

MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTRY: Recommended Textbooks

1. Biochemistry laboratory practice- workbook, Plješa-Ercegovac M, Radonjić N, Matić M, Živanović-Radnić T, Jeremić I, Misirlić-Denčić S, Savić-Radojević A, Đukić T, Stanojevic Ž, Nikolić T, Suvakov S, Velimirovic M, Coric V, Isakovic A. VII dopunjeno izdanje, izdavač: Institut za biohemiju, Medicinski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd, 2024. 

2. Marks’ Basic Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach, 6th Edition. Edition by Michael Lieberman (Author), Alisa Peet MD (Author). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins - Wolters Kluwer; 2022.

3. Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry, 32nd Edition. PJ. Kennelly, KM. Botham, OP. McGuinness, VW. Rodwell, PA. Weil. McGraw Hill, LLC, 2023.

4. Marks’ Essentials of Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach, 2nd Edition. Edition by Michael Lieberman and Alisa Peet. Wolters Kluwer; 2014.

5. Lecture, seminar and lab presentation available within online study platform for the current school year

 

 

 

 

Assessment and evaluation of students

The assessment of students takes into account the Chemistry mark and Medical Biochemistry pre-exam activities score, success in the practical exam, as well as, the final test (all points are recorded in personal student chart and the electronic database).

Medical Chemistry mark accounts for 30% of the final grade and carries up to 30 points.

Medical Biochemistry mark accounts for 70% of the final grade and carries up to 70 points.

FINAL GRADE IN MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTRY AND CHEMISTRY = MEDICAL CHEMISTRY POINTS x 0,3 + MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTRY POINTS x 0,7

Medical Biochemistry mark:

1. Pre-exam activities score accounts for 30% of the Medical Biochemistry grade comprising up to 20% obtained on two colloquia (up to 20 points) and 10% from the activity during labs (up to 2% or 2 pts), seminars (up to 2% or 2 pts), essays (up to 4% or 4 pts) and lecture attendance (up to 2% or 2 pts: 20 x 0,1 point). The pre-exam activities points are added to a final score after passing the final test, so they may increase the final grade, but cannot help for passing the test itself.

2. Practical exam accounts for 20% of the Medical Biochemistry grade and the

3. Final exam accounts for 50% of the Medical Biochemistry grade.

During academic year, two colloquia, each comprising 35 questions with multiple choice questions (MCQs), are held. The threshold for passing each colloquium is 18 correct answers, however it is not obligatory to pass the colloquium and all points obtained (up to 10 points per colloquium in the overall Medical Biochemistry grade) will be recalculated accordingly. The second term for taking each colloquium is organized only for students who were justifiably absent (they must provide an appeal to the Department of Medical Biochemistry with justification for their absence) and might include additional topics covered between the terms. 

First colloquium covers following topics: Structure-function relationship in proteins; Enzymes as catalysts; Regulation of enzymes; Cellular bioenergetics; Tricarboxylic acid cycle; Oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial function; Generation of ATP from glucose: glycolysis; Oxidation of fatty acids and ketone bodies; Digestion, absorption and transport of carbohydrates; Formation and degradation of glycogen; Pathways of sugar metabolism: pentose phosphate pathway, fructose and galactose metabolism; Synthesis of glycosides, lactose, glycoproteins and glycolipids; Gluconeogenesis; Synthesis of fatty acids, triacylglycerols and the major membrane lipids.

Second colloquium covers following topics: Cell signaling; Structure of the nucleic acids; Synthesis of DNA; Transcription: synthesis of RNA; Translation: synthesis of proteins; Regulation of gene expression; Basic concepts in the regulation of fuel metabolism by insulin, glucagon and other hormones; Digestion and transport of dietary lipids; Cholesterol absorption, synthesis, metabolism and fate; Integration of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism; Protein digestion and amino acid absorption; Fate of amino acid nitrogen: Urea cycle; Purine and pyrimidine metabolism; Intertissue relationship in the metabolism of amino acids; Actions of hormones that regulate fuel metabolism.

Colloquium

Chapters*

I

7,8,9,20,21,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,31

 

II

11,12,13,14,15,16,19,29,32,34,35,36,39,40,41

 

 

 

 

 

*according to Marks’ Basic Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach

 

 

Mini-essay

Chapter*

1

8. Enzymes as Catalysts

2

21. Digestion, Absorption and Transport of Carbohydrates

3

30. Oxidation of Fatty Acids and Ketone bodies

4

36. Fate of Amino Acid Nitrogen: Urea cycle

5

41. Actions of Hormones that Regulate Fuel Metabolism

*according to Marks’ Basic Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach

TOPICS FOR MINI-ESSAYS

MINI-ESSAY 1:

  • Explain the basic principles of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction
  • Explain the strategies for catalysis
  • Explain the induced‐fit model for substrate binding
  • Explain the role of functional groups in catalysis

MINI-ESSAY 2:

  • Explain the process of digestion of carbohydrates
  • Explain the absorption of sugars by the intestinal epithelium
  • Describe different forms and function of disaccharidases of the intestinal brush-border membrane
  • Describe facilitative glucose transporters and specify their differences

MINI-ESSAY 3:

  • Explain the transport (in the blood and within the cell), as well as, activation of fatty acids
  • Explain the process of β-oxidation (location, steps, products)
  • Describe alternative pathways for fatty acid oxidation
  • Describe the metabolism (synthesis and oxidation) of ketone bodies

MINI-ESSAY 4:

  • Explain the overall fate of amino acid nitrogen
  • Explain the transamination reactions
  • Describe the urea cycle
  • Describe the regulation and the disorders of the urea cycle

MINI-ESSAY 5:

  • Describe how and which hormones regulate fuel metabolism
  • Explain the regulation of calcium homeostasis by parathyroid hormone, vitamin D and calcitonin
  • Explain metabolic effects of glucocorticoids
  • Describe the synthesis and physiologic effects of thyroid hormone

 

Overall grade, comprising Medical Chemistry and Medical Biochemistry mark is done according to the following table:

Number of total points out of 100

Final grade

 

≤ 50

 

5 (not passed)

51-60

 

6

61-70

 

7

71-80

 

8

81-90

 

9

 

91-100

 

10

 

Available Elective courses:

  • Experimental Medicine

  • In vitro models in medical research

  • Basic methods in protein purification and analysis, on line course

  • Programmed Cell Death 

  • Biochemical features of different human tissues

  • Biochemical aspects of physical activity, on line course (semester VII)

Available student research topic for 2024/25 school year:

  • The effect of glutathione S-transferase omega class polymorphism on susceptibility to colorectal carcinoma ( Prof. Marija Matić)

 

Available topics for the graduation thesis for 2024/25 school year:

  • Xenobiotic metabolism (Professor Tatjana Simić)
  • Estimating biological age using circulating blood biomarkers (Professor Nataša Petronijević)
  • Markers of neurodegeneration in cerebrospinal fluid (Professor Ivanka Marković)
  • The influence of physical activity on biochemical parameters (Professor Aleksandra Isaković)
  • Genetic biomarkers of solid tumors (Professor Ana Savić-Radojević)
  • Oxidative stress in health and disease (Professor Marija Plješa Ercegovac)
  • Hormone-dependant tumors (Professor Marija Matić)
  • Mitochondria and aging (Professor Sonja Misirlić-Denčić)
  • Advantages of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis as a model for studying neuroinflammation (Associated professor Željka Stanojević)
  • Biochemistry of vitamins: their structure, properties, functions and metabolism in humans (Associated professor Tatjana Đukić)
  • Laboratory indicators of iron metabolism status in the body (Associated professor Tatjana Nikolić)
  • Clinical biochemistry of exercise (Assistant professor Vesna Ćorić)
  • Inborn errors of carbohydrate metabolism (Assistant professor Anđelka Isaković)
  • Pleiotropic roles of ketone bodies: from fuel sources to signaling mediators (Assistant professor Tihomir Stojković)
  • Molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease (Assistant with PhD Đurđa Jerotić)

Course director:

Professor Marija Plješa Ercegovac

E-mail: m.pljesa.ercegovac@gmail.com

Tel: 011.36.43.249