Lecture 1

Kalbani Samih

Biochemistry and medical

science
No matter what medical domain you choose (General
medicine , veterinary medicine , Stomatology or
pharmacology) you need know a little or more about
biochemistry because :
Any organism is formed by millions of chemical structures
with different proprieties each of them has its own role ,
(arent you curios how we form our energy, what are we
made from , what do we eat and what is the foods role in
our body or in any organism .. What are the medical drugs
and what is their mechanism of work)

Power of Hydrogen (pH)

The pH is used to specify the acidity or the
basicity of a solution

pH= - log [H+]

The more Hydrogen ions, the more acidic the solution and
the LOWER the pH
The lower Hydrogen concentration, the more alkaline the
solution and the HIGHER the pH

Power of Hydrogen (pH)

An acid : is an H donor ; so if we put it into a solution it will give it

H ions it will dissociate .

Depends on how it dissociate we got :
1)Strong acid : it dissociate completely (example HCL) (dissociate)
H and Cl
2)Weak acid : it partially dissociate (example H2Co3) Hco3 and H
So if we put an acid into a solution it will give it more H so the solution
pH will become LOWER .

Power of Hydrogen (pH)

A base : is an H acceptor it takes the H from the
solution.
For example : the HCO3- its the main base in our organism.
If we put This base into a solution it will take its H and the
pH will become Higher ( H + HCO3 h2co3)

Power of Hydrogen (pH)

In the human body the acid and base must be in balance ,
so we have some systems that maintain this balance and
fight against a Shift in the pH , these systems are:
1) The chemical buffers
2) The Respiratory system ( it gets the co2 our volatile
acid <co2+h2o H2co3> )
3) The kidney

The Amino Acids

The Amino acids are an organic components formed by an
Alfa carbon and:
1) A carboxyl group (-COO-)
2)An amino group (-NH3+)
3) Side chain ("R-group)
bonded to the -carbon atom

The Amino Acids

20 of these Amino Acids are called natural amino acids (this
means those amino acids are used in our body to make
proteins), 10 of them are called essential amino acids they
are NOT synthetized in our organism and we need to get
them from our DIET (Valine , Leucine, Isoleucine ,
Threonine , Methionine , Phenylalanine , Tryptophan ,
Histidine, Lysine , Arginine)
The Amino Acids are has Amphipathic Character : Can act
as acid and as a base .

Classification

Amino acids with nonpolar side chains.

Aromatic R Groups.
Amino acids with uncharged polar side chains.
Positively Charged (Basic) R Groups.
Amino acids with acidic side chains.

The amphipathic Character

The COOH part of the amino acid acts like an acid ( that
means that it can give an H to a solution ) and becomes
COO The NH2 acts like a base and can take an H+ to become
NH3+
So they can act like a PH BUFFER ( Maintains a normal
PH ) How?
If the PH gets HIGHT the amino acids release the H+ to
make the PH lower , and if the PH gets LOW the amino
acids takes the H+ to make the PH Highter.

The Peptide bond formation

Amino acids has the capacity to polymerize to make
peptides and proteins

Roles
The amino acids are the precursors of all the proteins in our body
:

1) Some of these proteins are also Enzymes with many roles in our
organism
2) Some of them are Hormones like the Growth factor which helps
in the growth of all our tissues
3) Some of them are structural proteins that forms our cell
membranes and different parts of our tissues
4) And many other proteins ( hemoglobin myoglobin etc)

Roles
Some of the amino acids are also used as
neurotransmitters : (like the glutamic acid )
Some of them are used to synthetize (non protein )
molecules :
1)Tryptophan is the precursor of the neurotransmitter
serotonin
2)Tyrosine is the precursor of the neurotransmitter of
dopamine
3)Arginine is the precursor of the nitric oxide
(vasodilatation agent)

Questions?