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Biochemistry

Free Biochemistry study guide: 10 units with summaries, key ideas, flashcards and 300 practice questions with step-by-step solutions.

Lines up with: College biochemistry; MCAT biochemistry.

Units

1. UNIT 01

   Water, pH and Buffers

   Water's polarity and hydrogen bonding shape every biomolecule, and pH and buffers control the charge, structure and activity of proteins. This unit gives you the acid-base tools used throughout biochemistry.
2. UNIT 02

   Amino Acids and Peptides

   Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and their side chains decide how proteins fold, bind and catalyze. This unit covers their structures, charges at different pH values, and how they link into peptides.
3. UNIT 03

   Protein Structure and Folding

   A protein's sequence folds into a precise 3D shape that determines its function. This unit explains the four levels of structure, the forces that stabilize them, how proteins fold and misfold, and how hemoglobin uses structure to deliver oxygen.
4. UNIT 04

   Enzymes and Kinetics (Michaelis-Menten)

   Enzymes are protein catalysts that make the reactions of life fast enough to matter. This unit explains how they lower activation energy and how to measure and compare their activity with Michaelis-Menten kinetics.
5. UNIT 05

   Enzyme Inhibition and Regulation

   Cells control enzymes, and drugs block them. This unit covers the kinetic signatures of reversible inhibitors, irreversible inhibitors, and the main ways cells regulate enzymes: allostery, covalent modification, cleavage and feedback.
6. UNIT 06

   Carbohydrates and Lipids

   Carbohydrates and lipids store energy and build structures such as cell walls and membranes. This unit covers sugar stereochemistry, glycosidic bonds, polysaccharides, fatty acids and the main lipid classes.
7. UNIT 07

   Membranes and Transport

   Membranes separate the cell from its surroundings and control what enters and leaves. This unit explains bilayer structure, membrane proteins, the kinds of transport, and how to calculate the energy of moving solutes and ions.
8. UNIT 08

   Glycolysis and Gluconeogenesis

   Glycolysis breaks glucose into pyruvate to make ATP and NADH, and gluconeogenesis builds glucose when the body needs it. This unit covers both pathways, their energy accounting, and how cells keep them from running at the same time.
9. UNIT 09

   Citric Acid Cycle and Oxidative Phosphorylation

   The citric acid cycle oxidizes acetyl-CoA to CO₂ and loads electrons onto NADH and FADH₂, and oxidative phosphorylation turns those electrons into most of the cell's ATP. This unit covers the reactions, energy accounting and control of aerobic metabolism.
10. UNIT 10

    Lipid and Nitrogen Metabolism; Integration

    Fats and amino acids are major fuels, and the body must coordinate their use with carbohydrates. This unit covers fatty acid breakdown and synthesis, ketone bodies, amino acid nitrogen disposal and how hormones integrate metabolism across tissues.