University

of Pennsylvania
CHEM 451: Biological Chemistry I
Fall Semester 2015

Instructor:

Office hours:

Teaching assistant:
Lecture:

Elizabeth Rhoades (elizabeth.rhoades@sas.upenn.edu)

TBD
TBD
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9-10a
David Rittenhouse Lab (DRLB) A4
We will meet every M-W-F between Wednesday, 26
August and Monday, 7 December except for the
following:

Evaluation:

Monday, 7 September Labor Day

Friday, 25 September Pope in Philly
Friday, 9 October Fall break
Friday, 13 November Liz out of town
Friday, 27 November Thanksgiving break

1. Class participation in class discussion, group work,

homeworks, etc, - 35%
2. Exams (1 at mid-term and 1 during finals) 20%
each
3. Journal club presentation 5%
4. Final project (presentation 10%, written report
10%)

Textbook recommended: Proteins: Stuctures and Molecular Properties by
Thomas E. Creighton (2nd edition)

This will be on reserve at the Chemistry library along with other potentially helpful
texts.



Topics covered (more or less in order)
Amino acids
Hydrogen bonds, polar interactions, hydrophobic effect
Secondary structure
Tertiary structure
Membranes and membrane proteins
Protein folding
Protein flexibility and dynamics
Intrinsically disordered proteins

Class project
This will be based on a primary literature paper. Details to come.


Tentative Detailed Syllabus (24 August 2015) - subject to change based upon
final course enrollment!

1 - Wednesday 25 August: Intro to class and review of amino acids;
read Creighton 1.1-1.4

2 - Friday 27 August: Amino acids

3 Monday 31 August: Hydrogen bonds

4 Wednesday 2 September: Polar interactions

5 Friday 4 September: Journal Club 1 Liz and TA

No Class (Labor Day) Monday 7 September

6 Wednesday 9 September: Hydrophobic effect

7 Friday 11 September: Journal Club 2

8 Monday 14 September: Secondary structure

9 Wednesday 16 September: Secondary structure

10 Friday 18 September: Journal Club 3; Group assignments for project

11 Monday 21 September: Tertiary structure

12 Wednesday 23 September: Tertiary structure

No Class (Pope in Philly) Friday 25 September:

13 Monday 28 September: Membranes and membrane proteins

14 Wednesday 30 September: Membranes and membrane proteins

15 Friday 2 October: Journal Club 4

16 Monday 5 October: Membrane and Membrane proteins

17 Wednesday 7 October: Protein folding: Deadline approval of project paper

No class (Fall break) Friday 9 October


18 Monday 12 October: Review

19 Wednesday 14 October: Mid-term Exam

20 Friday 16 October: Journal Club 5

21 Monday 19 October: Protein folding

22 Wednesday 21 October: Protein folding

23 Friday 23 October: Journal Club 6

24 Monday 26 October: Protein folding

25 Wednesday 28 October: Protein folding

26 Friday 30 October: Journal Club 7

27 Monday 2 November: Protein flexibility and dynamics

28 Wednesday 4 November: In class group project work day peer review of
preliminary projects

29 Friday 6 November: Journal Club 8

30 Monday 9 November: Protein flexibility and dynamics

31 Wednesday 11 November: Journal Club 9

No class (Liz out of town) Friday 13 November

32 Monday 16 November: Intrinsically disordered proteins

33 Wednesday 18 November: Intrinsically disordered proteins

34 Friday 20 November: Journal Club 10

35 Monday 23 November - Presentations

36 Wednesday 25 November - Presentations

No class (Thanksgiving) Friday 25 November

37 Monday 30 November Presentations

38 Wednesday 2 December - Presentations


39 Friday 4 December - Presentations

40 Monday 7 December Review: Final slides and written report on project due