CHE 585 - Physical Biochemistry (3 cr.)

An advanced course in the physical properties of biological macromolecules and the methods used to analyze their structure and function. Topics covered include: protein architecture and folding; nucleic acid structures and energetics; structure determination by X-ray crystallography and NMR; biological spectroscopy with emphasis on absorption, fluorescence, and NMR spectroscopies; and the kinetics and thermodynamics of protein-ligand interactions. Extended topics will include proteomics, biocalorimetry, hydrodynamics and fourier transform mass spectrometry. It is expected that students will be exposed to all of the areas covered in physical chemistry with a biological flavor and will appreciate the multidisciplinary nature of this topic. A special topic paper and presentation will be expected as part of the required work. Students that took CHE485 as an undergraduate may not get credit for this course.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduate biochemistry course equivalent to CHE 401 or permission of the instructor.
Semester(s) Offered: Spring