Main description:

One-semester biochemistry courses are notorious for overwhelming students with the magnitude of material covered in their texts and lectures. Biochemistry: Essential Concepts distills the basic ideas covered in a one-semester course without the extraneous details that burden most texts.

Authors Charles Hardin and James Knopp demonstrate the core concepts of biochemistry - including cell biology, amino acids, metabolism, and DNA - in a variety of real-world contexts. With the last forty percent of the text devoted to review questions and practice tests, Biochemistry: Essential Concepts equips students for success in the one-semester biochemistry course and prepares them for their future studies and careers.

Contents:

Brief Contents ; Preface ; Acknowledgement ; Chapter 1. Biochemistry: Subject Overview ; 1.1 Central Themes ; 1.2 Central Dogma of Molecular Biology ; Chapter 2. Cell Biology Review ; 2.1 The Animal Cell ; 2.2 The Plant Cell ; 2.3 Selected Organelles ; 2.4 The Cell Cycle: Mitotic Cell Division ; 2.5 Viruses ; Chapter 3. Chemistry Review ; 3.1 Organic Compounds ; 3.2 Chirality ; 3.3 Chemical Reactions ; 3.4 Physical Chemistry Concepts ; 3.5 Buffering of Blood: The Bicarbonate System ; Chapter 4. Amino Acids ; 4.1 Basic Structures ; 4.2 Amino acid 'R Groups' ; 4.3 Ionization Properties ; 4.4 Drawing Peptide Titration Plots ; 4.5 Factors That Influence the pKa of Protonatable/Deprotonatable Groups in Proteins ; Chapter 5. Proteins ; 5.1 Peptide Bonds ; 5.2 Purification and Characterization of Proteins ; Chapter 6. Protein Structure ; 6.1 Conformation ; 6.2 Classification of Substructure ; 6.3 Alpha (?) Helices ; 6.4 Beta Sheets ; 6.5 U-Turns ; 6.6 Ramachandran Plot ; 6.7 Stabilizing Factors ; 6.8 Thermodynamics of Protein Folding: The Hydrophobic Effect ; 6.8.1 Temperature-Dependant Denaturation ; 6.9 Chaotropes and The Hofmeister Series ; 6.10 Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS): Chaotrope Action ; 6.11 Visualizing the Energy Landscape ; 6.12 Protein Maturation ; Chapter 7. Ligand Binding and Functional Control ; 7.1 Oxygen Transport in Blood ; 7.2 Hemoglobin Oxygen Binding: Cooperativity ; 7.3 Antibodies: Immunological Recognition ; Chapter 8. Enzymes ; 8.1 Enzymes are Biological Catalysts ; 8.2 Enzyme Function: Activity Assays and Enzyme Kinetics ; 8.3 Requirements for Catalysis ; 8.4 Comparing Enzymes and Relative Efficiency of Use of Substrates ; 8.5 Drug Design ; 8.6 Enzyme Inhibitors ; 8.7 Allosterism ; 8.8 Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation ; Chapter 9. Metabolic Enzyme Action ; 9.1 Enzyme Mechanisms ; 9.2 Modes of Catalysis ; 9.3 The Reaction Coordinate ; 9.4 Induced Fit Revisited ; 9.5 Acid-Base Catalysis ; 9.6 Covalent Group Transfer ; 9.7 The Serine Protease Catalytic Triad Mechanism ; 9.8 The Active Site of Tyrosyl-tRNA Synthetase ; Chapter 10. Coenzymes ; 10.1 Classification ; 10.2 Survey of the Coenzymes ; 10. 3 Metals ; 10.4. Carbohydrates-Based Cofactors ; 10.5 Fat Soluble Vitamins ; Chapter 11. Carbohydrates and Glycoconjugates ; 11.1 Carbohydrates: Definition ; 11.2 Monosaccharides: Aldoses ; 11.3 Monosaccharides: Ketoses ; 11.4 Structural Features ; 11.5 Intramolecular Cyclization ; 11.6 Conformations: Sugar Puckers ; 11.7 Sugar Derivatives ; 11.8 Disaccharides ; 11.9 Polysaccharides ; 11.10 Carbohydrate-Protein Conjugates ; 11.11 Synthesis and Structural Characterization ; Chapter 12. Lipids ; 12.1 Structural Overview ; 12.2 Saturated and Unsaturated Fatty Acids ; 12.3 Functions ; 12.4 Diacylglycerol Lipid Derivatives ; 12.5 Structural Motifs ; 12.6 Assembly ; 12.7 Structural and Dynamic Characterization ; 12.8 Eicosanoids ; 12.9 Phospholipases ; 12.10 Phosphoinositides ; 12.11 Steroids ; 12.12 A Potpourrie of Lipids ; Chapter 13. Membranes ; 13.1 The Fluid Mosaic Model ; 13.2 Detergents ; 13.3 Distribution of Lipids in Biological Membranes ; 13.4 The Hydropathicity Scale ; 13.5 Lipid-Anchored Membrane Proteins ; 13.6 The Erythrocyte Cytoskeleton ; Chapter 14. Transport Through Membranes ; 14.1 The Transmembrane Potential ; 14.2 Active Transport ; 14.3 Ionophores ; 14.4 The Acetylcholine Receptor Ion Channel ; 14.5 Lactose Permease and Secondary Active Transport ; 14.6 Mechanism of Transport by Na+, K+ ATPase ; 14.7 Ion Channel Blockers ; Chapter 15. Signal Transduction ; 15.1 Signaling Pathways: Hormones, GTPases, Second Messengers and Intracellular Regulation .. 120 ; 15.2 The Adenylate Cyclase Signaling Pathway ; 15.3 The Inositol-Phospholipid Signaling Pathway ; 15.4 Phorbol Myristyl Acetate ; 15.5 The Insulin Receptor ; 15.6 Glucagon ; 15.7 G-Proteins ; Chapter 16. Nucleic Acids: DNA ; 16.1 DNA and RNA ; 16.2 Physical Properties ; 16.3 Secondary Structure ; 16.4 Backbone Structure ; 16.5 Counterions ; 16.6 Chemical Synthesis ; 16.7 Watson-Crick Base Pairs ; 16.8 Structural Modifications ; 16.9 Three-Dimensional Structures ; 16.10 Recognition of Sequences ; 16.11 Genetic Mutations and Antisense Nucleic Acids ; 16.12 Unusual DNA ; 16.13 Stabilization of Nucleic Acids ; 16.14 Secondary Structure Predictions ; 16.15 Chromosomes ; 16.16 Some Protein Nucleic Acid Binding Motifs ; 16.17 Recombination ; Chapter 17. RNA ; 17.1 Cells Contain a Variety of Types of RNA ; 17.2 RNAs Have Stable Secondary Structure ; 17.3 Tertiary Structure: Transfer RNA ; 17.4 Messenger RNA (mRNA) ; 17.5 Eukaryotic Messenger RNA ; 17.6 Alkaline Hydrolysis of RNA ; 17.7 Small Interfering RNA ; Chapter 18. Biotechnology ; 18.1 Restriction Endonucleases ; 18.2 Cloning in a Nutshell ; 18.3 DNA Preparation: Phenol-Chloroform Extraction ; 18.4 Polymerase Chain Reaction ; 18.5 Probe DNA ; Chapter 19. Metabolism ; 19.1 Overview ; 19.2 Metabolic Pathway Types ; 19.3 Energy Conservation ; 19.4 Key Pathways/Reactions ; Chapter 20. Bioenergetics ; 20.1 Reaction Equilibria: Standard and Actual Free Energies ; 20.2 Metabolically Irreversible and Near Equilibrium Reactions ; 20.3 Energies and Regulation of Glycolysis ; Chapter 21. Bioelectrochemistry ; 21.1 Redox Reaction Principles ; 21.2 Redox Energetics: The Nernst Equation ; 21.3 Electron Transport Chains ; Chapter 22. Glycolysis ; 22.1 Reactions 1 Through 10 ; 22.2 Regulation: Activation and Inhibition ; 22.3 Four Fates of Pyruvate ; Chapter 23. The Krebs Cycle ; 23.1 Pathway ; 23.2 Reactions ; 23.3 Yields ; 23.4 Cellular Redox Potential ; 23.5 Regulation ; Chapter 24. Gluconeogenesis ; 24.1 Reactions ; 24.2 Regulation ; 24.3 Sources Used to Produce Glucose ; Chapter 25. Electron Transport and Oxidative Phosphorylation ; 25.1 Mitochondria in Red and White Muscle ; 25.2 Overall Process ; 25.3 Chemical and Potential Energies That Drive Proton Transport ; 25.4 Mitochondrial Electron Transport ; 25.5 Electron Transfer and Proton Flow in Complexes I through IV ; 25.6 Oxidative Phosphorylation ; Chapter 26. The Malate-Aspartate Shuttle and Proteomics ; 26.1 Getting NADH Into the Mitochondrion: Isozymes ; 26.2 Isozymes and Proteomics ; 26.3 Characterization by Two-dimensional Gel Electrophoresis ; 26.4 Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics ; Chapter 27. Degradation and Synthesis of Lipids ; 27.1 Beta Oxidation of Saturated Fatty Acids ; 27.2 Biosynthesis of Fatty Acids ; 27.3 Length Determination of Fatty Acids ; 27.4 Synthesis of Acidic Phospholipids ; 27.5 Cholesterol Biosynthesis ; 27.6 Regulating Cholesterol Levels ; Chapter 28. Photosynthesis ; 28.1 Light and Dark Reactions ; 28.2 Photo-Gathering Pigments ; 28.3 Photosynthetic Electron Transport Pathway (Z scheme) ; Chapter 29. The Calvin Cycle ; 29.1 The Dark Reactions: Carbon Fixation ; 29.2 Biosynthesis of Ribose-5-phosphate ; 29.3 RuBisCO Mechanism ; 29.4 The C4 and CAM Pathways ; Chapter 30. The Urea Cycle ; 30.1 Purpose and Reactions ; 30.2 Regulation ; 30.3 Comparative Nitrogen Excretion ; 30.4 Protein Degradation and Programmed Cell Death ; STUDY GUIDE ; Review Session for Chapters 1 - 3 ; Review Session for Chapter 4 ; Review Session for Chapters 5 and 6 ; Review Session for Chapters 7 - 8.6 ; Review Sessions for Chapters 8.7 - 8.8 ; Review Session for Chapter 9 ; Review Session for Chapters 10 - 11.4 ; Review Session for Chapters 10 - 11.4: Key ; Review Session for Chapters 11.5 - 12.5 ; Review Session for Chapters 11.5 - 12.5: Key ; Review Session for Chapters 13 - 14.7 ; Review Session for Chapters 13 - 14.7: Key ; Review Session for Chapters 16.2 - 17.6 ; Review Session for Chapters 16.2 - 17.6: Key ; Review Session for Chapters 19 - 20 ; Review Session for Chapters 19 - 20: Key ; Review Session for Chapters 21 - 25 ; Review Session for Chapters 21 - 25: Key ; Review Session for Chapter 27 ; Review Session for Chapter 27: Key ; Practice Exam 1, Key ; Practice Exam 2, Key ; Practice Exam 3, Key ; Practice Exam 4, Key ; Final Test Review ; Final Test Review (with answers)