UNIBEN Biochemistry Courses From 100 to Final Year

University of Benin (UNIBEN) Biochemistry Courses from 1st year to final year. Course Content and Structure to guide UNIBEN Biochemistry Students, Aspirants and the General Public.

Watch Free UNIBEN Tutorial Videos,  Click Here for UNIBEN 100 Level to final year courses for all departments or Continue reading for the University of Benin Department of Biochemistry Courses for First and Second Semester till graduation.

UNIBEN 100 Level Biochemistry Courses

First Semester

Second Semester

UNIBEN 200 Level Biochemistry Courses

First Semester

Second Semester

UNIBEN 300 Level Biochemistry Courses

First Semester

Second Semester

UNIBEN 400 Level Biochemistry Courses

First Semester

Second Semester

Structure of UNIBEN Biochemistry Courses

100 LEVEL COURSES

FIRST SEMESTER:

+PBB111:        Introductory Plant Biology I

Introduction to Botany. Prospects of a botanist. Diversity of living organisms and habits, life forms, mode of nutrition, size, shape e.g. common features of organisms.  Need of arranging them into classifications.

Concept of five kingdom and their characteristics and possible evolutionary relationship among major goups of organisms.  A brief survey of bacteria, viruses, PPLO. Life cycle of algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms.

+AEB111:        Introductory Animal & Environmental Biology

Invertebrata: Protozoa, Porifera, Coelenterata, Platyhelminthes, Nematode, Mollusca, Annelida, Arthropoda, echinodermata.

Vertebrata: Cephalochordata, Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia. Mammalian Anatomy: Anatomy of Rattusrattus.

SECOND SEMESTER:

+PBB122:        Introductory Plant Biology

The general morphology, anatomy, histology and physiology of flowering plants.  Seed structure, dispersal and germination, development of primary and secondary plant body, water relations, photosynthesis, translocation and storage organs, respiration.

+AEB122:        Functional Zoology

Embroyology: Gametogenesis, fertilization and cleavage as demonstrated by Amphioxus. Genetics: the cell and distribution of genetic material, mitosis, meiosis, inheritance, sex determination and sex-linked inheritance.

Histology: cells, tissues, organ formation and main features. Physiology: functioning of mammalian skin, muscles/skeleton, alimentary system/nutritional requirement and deficiencies.

200 LEVEL COURSES

FIRST SEMESTER:

*BCH210:       Introductory Biochemistry

Short history and definition of biochemistry.  The living cell; organization and molecular architecture, types of cells and their characteristics. Biomolecules and the origin of life.

Chemistry of biomolecules – carbohydrates, lipids proteins, nucleotides; polynucleotides. Nature, classification and function of enzymes. Vitamins and their coenzyme function. Measuring techniques in biochemistry – cell fractionation, spectrophotometry etc.  Buffers and buffer system.

Elementary enzyme kinetics, introductory bioenergetics, including a brief explanation of the thermodynamic functions and the concept of energy; energy rich compounds, importance of ATP in energy exchange; simple calculations on the above mentioned. Metabolism of carbohydrates: glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, TCA cycle, glyoxylate cycle, convergence of metabolic pathways.

SECOND SEMESTER:

*BCH220: Functional Biochemistry I (Metabolism)

Metabolism of amino acids and proteins, including the formation of excretory products. Metabolism of lipids, lipoproteins, membranes and membrane structure (elementary introduction). Accessory food factors and trace elements; their importance in nutrition and role in metabolism. Special topics to include photosynthesis, detoxification and excretory mechanisms, biochemistry of the eye, muscle, plant and animal hormones. Unity and diversity in biochemistry.

*BCH221:  Functional Biochemistry II (Communications)

An introduction to biochemical information flow.  Hormones and neurotransmitters as chemical mediators of signals in plants and animals.  Biochemistry of the visual process.  Composition of muscle and biochemistry of muscle contraction.  The central dogma of molecular biology.

*BCH222:       Principles of Molecular Biology

Normal and pathological ultrastructure of the cell (Prokaryotes vs Eukaryotes), nuclear and cytoplasmic organelles, including their structures and functions. Methods for studying the cell: microscopy, histochemistry and cytochemistry;

autoradiography vs scintillation counting; cell fractionation methods including differential centrifugation and gradient centrifugation; molecular hybridization including Paul Doty experiment, gene “dosage” determination and cot curves. Cell membrane and differentiations at the cell surface. Plasma membrane:

intracellular membranes; nuclear envelope; specialization of the cell surface including zonulaadherens, macula adherens and gap junctions; alterations and abnormalities in the cell junctions, including human warts, synovial membranes of rheumatoid arthritis, wound healing, Halley-Halley disease, Darier’s disease.

Microtubules and Microfilaments (structure and functions: including intermediate sized filaments i.eprekeratin, vimentin and desmin disorders with abnomalities of microtubules and microfilaments; Chediak Higashi syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, immotile cilia syndrome and hereditary spherocytosis syndrome.

Mitotic and meiotic chromosomes: including spermatogenesis, protamines, Lamp brush chromosomes, and pathology of meiosis and mitosis. Bloom syndrome, Endomitosis, deletion, duplications, translocations and inversions.

DNA and RNA structures and biosynthesis (structure and biosynthesis of DNA precursors, DNA prokaryotic DNA synthesis, pathology or defective DNA synthesis). DNA transcription:  RNA polymerase vs DNA polymerase, E. coli RNA polymerase, transcriptional process in E. coli, inhibitors of RNA synthesis. Regulation of transcription including phenylketonuria, albinism, galactosaemia, sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. Protein synthesis (including translation in cell free system)

Nuclear Proteins:  Structure and function; post-synthetic modifications: chromatin structure; pathological changes correlated with variations in histone or non-histone proteins.

DNA damage and repair (DNA damaging agents, types of damage of DNA; mechanisms of DNA repair; pathological manifestations of defective DNA repair including Xerodemapigmentosum, Ataxia telangiotasia, Fanconi’sanemia, and Cockayne syndrome. Bacteriophages and animal viruses: structure and chemical features; classification, virus-host cell interaction, viral replication.

*BCH227:       Introduction to Biochemical Literature and History/Philosophy of Science

Introduction to Biochemical literature will involve one hour lecture and library study for two hours per week.  Students will be given assignments which they are expected to complete during one or two library studies and present a written discussion in class.

History and philosophy of science will consist of lectures on the growth and development of Biochemistry over the years emphasizing major break-throughs in Biochemistry research.

300 LEVEL COURSES

FIRST SEMESTER:

*BCH310        Metabolic Pathways I:  Metabolism of Carbohydrates and lipids.

Review of the structural interrelationship of the sugars, aldo and ketopentoses and hexoses mentioning the biochemically important pentoses and ketoses.

Methods of structural identification of sugars e.g. methylation, periodate oxidation, borohydride reduction, killiani synthesis etc. Stereochemistry of sugars.  Metabolism of carbohydrates: detailed treatment of the reaction of the glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathways.

Entry of glycogen, starch, fructose, galactose and other hexoses into the glycolytic pathway.  Control of glycolysis, energy change and its importance.  Special aspects of the metabolism of sugars including amino sugars in animals, plants and microorganisms.  Glycogenolysisand its control.  Gluconeogenesis.

The glyoxylate cycle.  Photosynthesis including detailed explanation of the light and dark reactions.  Emphasis should be given to the reactions of photosystem I and II mechanisms of photophosphorylation.  Comparison of C3 and C4 photosynthesis, synthesis of structural and reserve polysaccharides.

Metabolism of lipids: fatty acid and triglyceride oxidation; interrelationship of fatty acid and carbohydrate oxidation, the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA).

Detailed treatment of the pyruvate and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes including their regulation will be expected as well as mechanisms of the individual reactions of the TCA cycle.  Fatty acid and triacylglyceride synthesis.  Metabolism of complex lipids, steroids, sphingolipids.  Chemistry of steroid hormones.

+BCH311:       Immunochemistry

Concepts and types of Immunity (humoral and cell mediated): Immunogens, antigens and haptens.  Requirements for immunogenicity.

Antibody classes, their structure, synthesis and functions.  Antigen-antibody reactions.  Hypersensitivity, allergy and causes, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and immunological tolerance.  Autoimmunity and concepts of autoantibody complement system and pathways.

*BCH312:       Introductory Enzymology

Enzymes as proteins, isolation and purification of enzymes specificity.  Active sites, inhibition and activation.  Detailed treatment of coenzymes, their roles and relationship to the vitamins.

Revision of chemical kinetics, simplified treatment of the kinetics of some substrate enzyme catalyzed reactions, kinetics of inhibition and activation, isoenzymes.  Allosterism.

*BCH313:       Separation Methods in Biochemistry and Biochemical Methodology:

Separation techniques in Biochemistry.  Measuring techniques, spectrophotometry, spectroflourimetry, flame photometry, polarimetry.

Optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism, pH measurements, manometric techniques.  The oxygen electrode and uses.  Calorimetry, isotopes in biochemistry.  Quantitative problems based on the foregoing techniques and interpretation of data.

+BCH315:       Elements of Biophysics

Acids and bases, acid and base catalysis, buffers and buffer systems.  Thermodynamics of the living cell.  Bioenergetics.  Electron and cation transport, oxidative phosphorylation and photosynthetic phosphorylation.  Transport across biological membranes.

*BCH321:       Industrial Attachment

DESCRIPTION OF SOME ELECTIVE COURSES

AEB311 Animal Physiology (4 Credits – First Semester)

A comparative study of animal functions – nutrition and digestion, respiration, blood and circulation; excretion and osmoregulation in aquatic and terrestrial animals, the nervous and endocrine systems.  Bioluminescence chromatophores and colour change.  Homeostasis.

AEB314  Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (3 Credits First Semester)

A comparative study of the intergument and the digestive respiratory urinogenital, circulatory, nervous, muscular and skeletal systems of living vertebrates to illustrate the major adaptive changes that have occurred during their evolution from fish to mammals.

400 LEVEL COURSES

FIRST SEMESTER:

*BCH410:   Advanced Enzymology

Enzyme active sites and regulatory sites.  Multienzymes systems.  Mechanisms of well-known enzymes (Chymotrypsin, Lysozyme, Ribonuclease, Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Pyruvate dehydrogenase).

Steady state enzyme kinetics to include mechanisms of equilibrium binding, derivation of binding and Scatchardplots.Mechanism and kinetics of bisubstrate reactions.

Detailed treatment of allosteric behaviour of enzymes.  The Hill plot, Adair model, Monod, Wyman and Changeux models for allosteric behaviour.  The Koshland – Nemethy – Filmer model.  Explanations of positive and negative cooperativity by these models.

Examples of allosteric enzymes (ATPase, Phosphofructokinase, Protein Kinase). Transient kinetics.  pH and enzyme catalyzed reactions, temperature and enzyme action.  Energy of activation.  Arrhenius plots.

+BCH411:       Plant Biochemistry and Secondary Metabolism

Special characteristics of the plant cell including ultra-structural studies.  Detailed treatment of the composition and formation of the plant cell-wall.  Unusual amino acids in plants, pyrimidines and purine nucleosides.  Special aspects of the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins in plants.

Seed development, germination and ripening.  Plant growth regulators – chemistry and biochemistry.  Biochemistry of nitrogen fixation.  Humus formation, manures and fertilizers.  Lignin biosynthesis and synthesis of their secondary products.

+BCH412:       Biochemistry of Organs and Tissues

The liver intracellular organization, glucostatic function and nitrogen metabolism of the liver.  The kidney; anatomical units and urine formation.

Osmoregulation and renal excretory mechanism.  Tubular transport mechanism.  Acid-based regulation.  Muscles; structure and composition of muscles.  Energy requirements and energetic of muscular contraction.  Adipose tissues and their metabolism.

Structural tissues chemical aspects of brain structure, including techniques of fractionation.  Neurochemistry including neurotransmitters and biogenic amines, membrane potential and ion transport, action potential and depolarization.  Constitution and function of blood, lymph and other fluids.  Biochemistry of vision.  The endocrine system, the control of hormones secretion.  General treatment of hormones of lower animals.  Biochemistry of cardiac tissue.

*BCH413:       Advanced Molecular Biology I

DNA structure:  An overview of α, β-helix types, DNA topology, roles of topoisomerass and gyrase in DNA conformation dynamics.  DNA replication (Polymerase I, II, III): characteristics and function; primase and ligase physiochemical mutagenesis and repair of DNA damage.  The relationship between defective DNA repair and cancer to include detection of potential carcinogens.

Control of gene expression in prokaryotes; Lac operation, cAMP, catabolite repression.  Arabinose operon.  Tryptophan operon, control of transcription in lambda phage. Structure of lambda repressor and cro protein; control of ribosomal protein and RNA synthesis.  DNA inversion and phase variation.  Discovery of operons and control elements.

Control of gene expression in eukaryotes: Mitochondrial DNA. Mechanism of transcriptional regulation.  Zinc-finger proteins. Nuclear receptors for hormones and morphogenesis.  Leucine zipper protein, cAMP activation of transcription.

+BCH414:       Macromolecular & Advanced Biophysical Chemistry

A review of the macromolecules and their importance in living organisms.  Special techniques for studying macromolecules. A more rigorous treatment of bioenergetics.

Electrochemistry of the living cell.  Membrane structure and integrity, membrane phenomena and the dynamics of transport process in living tissues.  Biophysical aspects of cell growth and development.  Physico-chemical aspects of the sense organs.  Bioluminescence and its use in biochemical studies.

eBCH416:        Nutrition and Food Sciences

Review of the various food items and their roles in nutrition.  Digestion and absorption of food.  The nutritive value of food and the metabolic disturbances related to dietary deficiencies and excesses.

Public health aspects of nutrition:  assessment of nutritional status, aetiology of malnutrition.  Kwashiorkor and marasmus.  Toxic substances in foods, especially local foods.  Browning reactions.  Food spoilage (chemical and microbial).  Quality control, food additives and preservatives.

*BCH417: Metabolic Pathways II: Metabolism of Nitrogenous Compounds.

Uptake of amino acids by cells, detailed treatment of amino acid transport to include the ɣ-glutamyl cycle. Metabolism: mechanism of transamination, the biochemical and clinical importance of transaminases, glutamate dehygrogenases, glutamate and glutamine synthetases.

Their roles in amino acid metabolism.  Nitrogen turnover in cells.  Degradation of amino acids, ketogenic and glucogenic amino acids (to include detailed treatment of aromatic amino acid degradation including the associated inborn errors of metabolism).

Biosynthesis of isoleucine, threonine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine and tyrosine, and a brief treatment of their regulation.  Detailed treatment of the urea cycle, comparative biochemistry of nitrogen excretion.  Biosynthesis of norepinephrine, tri-and tetra-iodothyronine from amino acids.

Nucleoside, nucleotide and nucleic acid synthesis.  Porphyrin synthesis in animals and plants. Interrelationship of metabolic pathways:  integration and compartmentation in intermediary metabolism.

SECOND SEMESTER:

*BCH420:       Enzyme Reaction Mechanisms and Metabolic Regulation

Enzyme active sites, methods of investigation of the nature of the enzyme active site-directed reagent, X-ray techniques in the study of enzymes and enzyme substrate complexes.

Theories of the nature of the active site. Explanation of the high efficiency of enzymes and catalysts. Multienzyme systems. Mechanism of action of well-known enzymes e.g. ribonuclease, chymotrypsin, lysozyme. Alcohol dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Detailed study of the enzymes of the respiratory chain explaining how the sequence of the chain was studied. Enzymes of the photosynthetic pathway. Enzymic regulation of glycolysis, TCA cycle and pentose phosphate pathway. Regulation and control of aliphatic and aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in microorganisms.

eBCH 421: Clinical Biochemistry

Routine tests of general wellbeing – urine, blood renal function tests and electrolyte balance; liver function test; endocrine function assessment to include infertility investigations; haemoglobinopathies, coagulation defects; enzymes in diagnosis; immunochemistry; inborn errors of metabolism; provocative tests, trace elements in nutrition.

*BCH 422: Biochemical Reasoning

Problems solving in biochemistry using examples from the literature. This should consists of take-home assignments to be discussed later in class. In addition, solving numerical problems will be extensively taught in this course.

*BCH 423: Advanced Molecular Biology II

DNA technology:  A more rigorous treatment (palindromic sequences and restriction endonuclease activity; electrophoretic separation of DNA fragments and identification techniques;

DNA finger printing concept and the related Northern, Western and Southern blot concepts and uses), DNA sequencing techniques (Maxam-Gilbert, Sanger Dideoxy and automated solid-phase methods).

Methods of forming recombinant DNA molecules to highlight roles of restriction enzyme and DNA ligase.  DNA cloning to highlight plasmids and lambda phage as vectors for bacterial DNA cloning.  DNA analyses by chromosome-walking, polymerase chain reaction in DNA amplification (applications in medical diagnosis, forensic investigations and molecular evolution.

cDNA from mRNA expression in host cells (proinsulins by genetic engineering) Eukaryotic cell expression of new gene inserts, transgenic mice.  Tumor-including plamids; inserting of new genes into plants cells.

Novel proteins and site specific mutagenesis.  Honologous recombination.  RecA protein and inducible DNA repair.  Transposition and infectious drug resistance.  Site specific recombination.  Retroviral replication and integration.

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic RNA polymerases: Initiation and elongation promoters, enhancers, transcription factors, termination and polyadenylation in RNA editing, post-translation in RNA biosynthesis, splicing of RNA precursors.

Spliceosomes and RNA catalysis.  Protein synthesis in prokaryotes, aminoacyl-tRNAsynthetases, tRNA ribosomes and rRNAs, elongation factors, peptide bond formation and eukaryotic protein synthesis highlights.  Antibiotic and toxins effect on protein synthesis.

Protein targeting: signal sequences, signal recognition and translocation, ER, Golgi complex and vesicular transport, heat shock proteins, targeting to mitochondria, chloroplast, peroxisome, neclei and bacteria.  Endocytosis and clathrin-coasted vesicles.  Entry of viruses and toxins.  Protein degradation

eBCH424:        Biochemical Pharmacology

Meaning and importance of chemotherapy.  Structure-function relationship of drug; designing of new drugs.  Transport and tissues distribution of influence drug action.

Drug receptors (proteins, nucleic acids, lipids etc) mode of action of drugs.  Selective toxicity and drug action.  Drugs affecting the CNS, opium and other addictive drugs, antimalarial drugs,

Trypanosomiasis and its economic importance, metabolic effects of antibiotics and other drugs – DNA antimetabolites, RNA antimetabolities, anti-metabolities from plants -phytoagglutinins, goitrogens, cyanogens, lathyrogen, protease inhibition, favism.

eBCH426:        Biochemical Engineering

Introduction – definitions, (Dimensions and Units) scope of bioengineering, Microbial Growth – Requirements for growth, types of media, the batch culture (parameters of growth,

mathematical model of simple batch culture, diaxic growth, limitations).  Factors affecting growth and product formation (energy and carbon – carbohydrate and hydrocarbons, oxygen, temperature, pH).  Unit Operation – material and energy balance, heat transfer coefficient, application of heat transfer (sterilization and canning, pasteurization, chilling and freezing, refrigeration – food processing).

*BCH499:       Project

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