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Introduction to Physical Biochemistry

Overview

  • Credit value: 15 credits at Level 4
  • Convenor: to be confirmed
  • Assessment: in-class problem sets (40%) and an end-of-module test (60%)

Module description

In this module you will gain a sound understanding of the underlying physical principles that govern biological systems, covering both thermodynamic and kinetic aspects. You are also introduced to key methods used to study biochemical reactions in the laboratory. A particular focus is on developing skills in the manipulation, analysis and interpretation of biochemical data.

Indicative syllabus

  • An introduction to the first and second laws of thermodynamics and the concepts of enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy
  • How Gibbs free energy changes can be used to predict whether a reaction occurs spontaneously or not
  • The relationship between Gibbs free energy change and the value of an equilibrium constant
  • The concepts of activation energy, reaction coordinates, transition state, and that reactions may be under thermodynamic or kinetic control
  • Reactions rates, rate laws, reaction order and rate coefficients
  • Experimental methods to determine reaction rates
  • How reaction rates depend on temperature
  • The role of enzymes in catalysing biochemical reactions
  • The Michaelis-Menten model and its limitations
  • The terms Vmax and Km and how they may be determined
  • Acid-base equilibria, pH, pKa and biological applications
  • The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter and the principle of UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence emission
  • Applications of spectroscopy to study biological systems
  • Use of the Beer-Lambert law to determine the concentration of absorbing species

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • state the first and second laws of thermodynamics and apply the concept of Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) to predict the spontaneity and equilibrium position of biochemical reactions (e.g. ATP hydrolysis, coupled reactions)
  • explain, with examples, the concepts of thermodynamic and kinetic control of reactions
  • outline the factors that govern the rate of a biochemical reaction and describe the essential features of enzymatically catalysed reactions in terms of Michaelis-Menten kinetics
  • use appropriate experimental data to determine kinetic properties such as reaction order, rate coefficients, Vmax and Km
  • explain the physiological importance of buffering systems in blood and intracellular fluids, and solve quantitative problems related to pH and pKa
  • describe how the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter can lead to specific absorption bands in the ultraviolet and visible region, and in some cases to the emission of fluorescence
  • use spectroscopic data to determine the concentrations of different absorbing species.