INTRODUCTION: Main structural characteristics of the eukaryotic cell, importance of compartmentalization. Cell and tissue cultures.

NUCLEIC ACIDS: Nucleotides, DNA structure, DNA-RNA-PROTEIN.

AMINO ACIDS: General information, definition, classification. The asymmetric carbon, dissociation of amino acids, standard amino acids and essential amino acids. The characteristics of the side chain: neutral amino acids, acidic amino acids and basic amino acids. The peptide bond.

PROTEIN STRUCTURE: General information, definitions, classifications. Structural grades of polypeptides, primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure. Structure-function relationships in hemoglobin and myoglobin.

CARBOHYDRATES: Structure and classification. Monosaccharides. Disaccharides and Polysaccharides of biological interest.

METABOLISM: Glycolysis, Pyruvate dehydrogenase. Fate of pyruvate in aerobic and anaerobic conditions (acetyl-CoA, lactic acid, ethanol)
Tricarboxylic acid cycle.

Structure of mitochondria: Respiratory chain. Oxidative phosphorylation. Coupling of oxidative phosphorylation to electron transport. Inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation.

Detoxification system: Biotransformation processes, Phase I and Phase II reactions, subcellular localization of enzymes, Cytochrome P-450, Glucuronyltransferase, Glutathione S-transferase