Syllabus
1. Porphyrins and metalloporphyrins - nomenclaure, natural abundance, physico-chemical properties, spectroscopy and structure. Analogues and its use in therapy.
2. Hemeproteins - functional classification, common physico-chemical and structural properties.
3. Oxygen carriers and similar binding proteins. Myoglobin (characteristics, functional role of protein chain). Hemoglobin - differences and similaritites to myoglobin. Allostery - phenomenological description and theoretical models, effectors and modulators. Ontogenetic and phylogenetic aspects - fetal hemoglobin, molecular pathology (hemoglobinopathies, anemia, thallassemias) non-mammalian hemoglobins, leghemoglobin. Non-heme oxygen carriers (hemerythrin, hemocyanin). NO carriers - nitrophorin.
4. Electron transfer. Cytochromes, cytochrome c (description, functional and phylogenetic aspects). Electron transfer chains (respiratory chain, electron transfer in photosynthesis). Other cytochromes and flavocytochromes. FeS proteins.
5. Heme enzymes, oxygen activation. Cytochromes P450, NO synthase. Oxidases, oxygenases. Peroxidases, catalase, superoxidismutases.
6. Heme sensors - sGC, FixL, CooA.
7. Metobolism of heme and iron. Porphyrias, jaundice. Ferritin, transferrin.
8. Porphyrin analogues as coenzymes. Chlorophyll, photosynthetic reaction centers, Phytochrome, open chain tetrapyrroles, phycobillin.
9. General introduction to biochemical importance of metals, detoxication, metallothioneins.
Annotation
Functional and structural aspects of heme- and other metallloproteins. Porphyrins and metalloporphyrins, nomenclature, structure, physicochemical properties, natural abundance, biosynthesis and catabolism). Biochemical oxygen carriers, myoglobin, hemoglobin, their structure, function, regulation, evolution and molecular pathology, non-heme oxygen carriers. Electron transfer in biochemistry, cytochromes, their structure, functional role in respiratory chain and similar electron transfer chains, and in photosynthesis. Cytochrome c, analysis of its structure-function relationships, evolutionary aspects. Heme enzymes, activation of molecular oxygen, P450 proteins, catalases and peroxidases, Nosynthase. Heme sensor proteins and NO carriers. Other reaction of oxygen and its active species, oxygenases and dioxygenases, superoxiddismutases. Open chain tetrapyrrols and porphyrine analogs, bilins, phytochrome, chlorophylls, cobalamine. General considerations of inorganic biochemistry, role of metals in biochemistry.
Lectures - in Czech and/or in English (in case of more than 2 interested students; otherwise the English course takes the form of a "directed reading").