Molecular modeling is pervasive in the pharmaceutical industry that employs many of our students from Biology, Chemistry and the interdisciplinary majors. To expose our students to this important aspect of their education we have incorporated a set of tutorials in our Biochemistry class. The present article describes one of our tutorials where…

Biochemistry is about structure and function, but it is also about data and this is where computers come in. From my time as a graduate student and post doc, whenever I encountered data I thought, "I can work this up by hand, but I think a computer could do a better job." Since that time, I have been working at the interface of…

Describes a laboratory experience for upper-level science students that provides a hands-on approach to understanding the basics of experimental physiology. Students design an experiment to determine the relative importance of dilution of plasma proteins in the overall renal excretory response following volume expansion with intravenous saline.…

The importance of nutrition is known in swimming as in other sports branches. Knowing the right strategies for nutrition will enable swimmers to improve their recovery time as well as increase their performance. This study aims to investigate the effects of with and without diet training programs on the performance and recovery times of male…

Background: The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides >30 million meals to children daily; however, the specific nutrient composition of NSLP-selected and consumed meals for students from lower income and racial/ethnic minoritized backgrounds is unknown. Aims: To quantify the nutrients in school lunch selection and consumption among…

Recombinant protein expression and site-directed mutagenesis of target genes have demonstrated an increasing importance in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and medicine. By using the flavodoxin of the model cyanobacterium "Anabaena" sp. PCC 7120 as a laboratory tool, we designed a comprehensive laboratory…

Electron spin resonance (ESR) or electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is an incisive technique for the characterization of paramagnetic centers in inorganic, bioinorganic, and organic molecules and materials. These measurements are enabled with the help of paramagnetic species, such as organic free radicals and ions, electronically…

The practical work described here is designed for third-year bachelor students in Life Sciences attending a kidney physiology course. It illustrates how urinary biochemistry can be used for a medical diagnosis. Students have to measure glucose, proteins, and creatinine concentrations in three simulated urine samples. First, they independently…

This report describes the implementation of a laboratory exercise for an advanced biochemistry or enzyme kinetics class at the undergraduate or graduate level, designed to improve understanding of protein conformational changes associated with the binding of a ligand. Students measure the fluorescence changes induced by the conformational…

A fluorescence spectroscopy experiment is described where students integrated biochemistry and instrumental analysis, while characterizing the green fluorescent protein excitation and emission spectra in terms of its phenolic and phenolate chromophores. Students studied the combined effect of pH and temperature on the protein's fluorescence,…

In traditional introductory biochemistry laboratory classes students learn techniques for protein purification and analysis by following provided, established, step-by-step procedures. Students are exposed to a variety of biochemical techniques but are often not developing procedures or collecting new, original data. In this laboratory module,…

In an increasingly complex world, it is imperative that undergraduate science courses prepare students to make confident, informed decisions and predictions. The research presented in this thesis focuses on supporting students to engage in mechanistic reasoning (MR) about phenomena in chemistry and biology (that is, thinking about how and why…

Most biochemical transformations involve more than one substrate. Bisubstrate enzymes catalyze multiple chemical reactions in living systems and include members of the transferase, oxidoreductase, and ligase enzyme classes. Working knowledge of bisubstrate enzyme kinetic models is thus of clear importance to the practicing biochemist. However,…

With the advancement of ribonucleic acid (RNA) research in the field of biochemistry, ensuring that undergraduate students have both the theoretical and practical knowledge of current, cutting-edge experimental techniques is of marked importance. Many current biochemistry experiments demonstrate various basic molecular biological techniques…

The cAMP response element (CRE)-binding protein, CREB, is a transcription factor whose activity in the brain is critical for long-term memory formation. Phosphorylation of Ser133 in the kinase-inducible domain (KID), that in turn leads to the recruitment of the transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP), is thought to mediate the…