Natural Compounds and Selected Biochemical Techniques for their study 1200-2BLOK1-WYK2

The lecture will consist of three parts:
1. Methods for testing natural compounds
2. Natural compounds
3. Designing peptide drugs (peptidomimetics)

Re 1. The lecture will discuss the basic techniques used to prepare biological material and test it, including methods for obtaining macromolecules (mainly proteins and nucleic acids) from cells, their purification (various types of chromatography, electrophoresis and methods for confirming sequence and purity). The therapeutic uses of nucleic acids will also be presented.

Ad. 2. The lecture is addressed to those students who wish to learn about the elements of the chemistry of low-molecular-weight natural compounds in its contemporary approach. The lecture will cover basic issues of primary and secondary plant metabolism. Individual important groups of derivatives: carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids and prostaglandins, terpenoids, alkaloids and phenolic compounds will be systematically discussed. Basic issues of contemporary neurochemistry, toxicology and ecosystem chemistry will also be addressed, as well as problems related to chemical interactions and interdependencies among living organisms. Among other things, symbiosis and antibiosis will be discussed, as well as the mechanisms and channels of chemical information exchange (signalling compounds, pheromones, odours and aromas).
Ad.3 In the field of peptide drug design, methods for converting endogenous peptides with specific biological activity (which degrade rapidly in physiological fluids) into peptidomimetics with prolonged half-life in the body and preserved (or higher) biological activity will be discussed. Methods of peptide synthesis will be presented and examples of peptide drugs used in medicine will be discussed.

Permissible number of absences from lectures - 3