| Responsible Department | Department of Basic Science and Environment | ||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | BSc. 3 year to MSc. 2 year | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | Joint BSc and MSc | ||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination and oral examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: Evaluation of project report with individual oral presentation and examination. Weight: Oral presentation and examination 100% 7-point scale, external examiner | ||||||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | Presentation and critique of an article in journal club sessions. Delivery of an individual project report prior to the final examination. | ||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | The course is an inter-faculty course with teachers from FARMA(1 week), NAT(1 week) and LIFE(5 weeks). One week will be reserved for project work. Teaching will be on Frederiksberg and Nørre Campus | ||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 1 Week Structure: C | ||||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | LKEA10108 LKEA10109 LKEB10077 Basic courses in chemistry and biochemistry at the respective faculties. At LIFE "Makromolekyler, cofaktorer og metalioner og deres kemi i biologiske systemer" is a suggested prerequisite. At NAT "KemiUB" is a suggested prerequisite. | ||||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||||
| The central purpose is to illustrate how metal ions are essential for life. Their function can range from the simple charge balance and structural role to the complex roles in which they transfer electrons, break bonds, make bonds or control biochemical reactions. This course deals with the chemical reactivity and function of metal ions in biological systems. This field of research (also called bioinorganic chemistry or biological inorganic chemistry) is a relatively new interdisciplinary field, which have connections to biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, biology, biophysics, pharmacology, toxicology and nanotechnology. The course content is dynamic and will reflect the current hot topics/new discoveries in bioinorganic chemistry. The course will contain selections of the following subjects: Biological trace elements, and their abundance and bioavailability. The coordination chemistry of metal ions and bioinorganic model systems. Biological metal ion transport mechanisms (uptake, storage and metallochaperones). Metabolism of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. Metal ion and metal ion complexes' interaction with nucleic acids. Metal ions in diseases, health and medicine. Biological ultratrace elements. The coordination chemistry of biological dioxygen transport. Dioxygen activating iron enzymes such as heme containing (cytochrome P450s), mononuclear iron enzymes (2His-1carboxylate facial triad enzymes) di-iron enzymes (methane monooxygenase). Dioxygen activating copper enzymes (monooxygenases, multi-copper oxidases). zink (hydrolytic enzymes), molybdenum (sulfite oxidase) and nickel (urease, NiFe hydrogenase) metallo-enzymology. Other enzymes in oxygen metabolism such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidases and catalase. Nitrogenase and biological dinitrogen fixation. Metalloproteins in biological electron transfer (photosynthesis, respiration and redoxenzymes) and the physical nature of electron transfer. Bioinorganic chemistry in biotechnology, environmental context and in biocatalysis. Introduction to the theory behind experimental techniques used for studying metal ions in biological systems. Examples of such techniques are mass spectrometry (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), circular dichroism (CD), Perturbed angular correlation spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, Resonance Raman, X-ray absorption spectroscopies. | |||||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||
| Lectures, individual work on a project with the possibility of study groups, presentation and discussion of articles, instrument demonstrations, and theoretical exercises. | |||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||||
| The objective of this course is to give the students a thorough introduction to the function of metal ions in biological systems and make the students able to analyze the structure and function of metal ion containing biomolecules. After the end of this course the students should be able to: Knowledge Describe the different functions metal ions have in biological systems Provide an overview over metalloprotein function and biological selection of different metal ions. Have theoretical insight into which spectroscopic techniques or other methods that are appropriate for investigating a specific metalloprotein. Discuss why too high and too low concentrations of trace elements are harmful to living organisms Skills Be able to find and read primary scientific articles within the field and explain the content. Communicate clearly written and orally issues of bioinorganic chemistry Describe the function of metalloenzymes on a molecular basis Competences Critically evaluate the data presented in scientific articles. Suggest the potential function of a particular transition metal ion in a biological molecule when presented with structural information about its coordination environment. Predict whether an enzyme catalysed reaction is likely to involve metal ions and in the positive case, what metal ions are likely. | |||||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||||
| Bertini, Gray, Stiefel & Valentine Biological Inorganic Chemistry - Structure & Reactivity, University Science Books, USA, 2007 + notes and articles. | |||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||
| Morten Jannik Bjerrum, mobj@life.ku.dk, Department of Basic Sciences and Environment, Phone: 353-32452 | |||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||||
| Work Load | |||||||||||||||||
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