“How to Survive” Guide – Molecules to Cells 1

HOW TO SURVIVE
Molecules to Cells

Image taken from: http://www.sonoma.edu/users/t/thatcher/biol518/cell%20diagram.jpg

 SPRING
2009
Co-Founders of SD Survival Guides: Samuel Anandan (Class of 2008), Akeem Marsh (Class of 2007)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Hello everyone!

Congratulations on completing orgo, genetics, and biostat! This term promises to

bring you into the world of medical school, as you begin your first medical
courses, biochemistry and medical cell biology, which are conveniently packaged
into one course called Molecules to Cells. You will also learn about community
medicine and primary care through the HMS sequence of courses, which will also
test your ability to write a 40+ page paper while maintaining your sanity. Good
luck!

Topic Pages
How to Study for Molecules to Cells 2
Quizzes and Exams 5
Textbooks 6
Your Very First Miniboard! 7
Genetic Disease Presentations 8
Top Tips for Doing Well in M2C 8
Additional Advice from Upper Years 9
Specific Exam Advice 13
Spring Term, Exam 3 Advice
Hormones on Nitrogen Metabolism Test
Useful Links 15

Top 3 Pieces of Advice for Getting Through 2 Year,16

nd

Spring Term

How to Survive: Molecules to Cells

Akeem Marsh (Class of 2007)
Samuel Anandan (Class 2009)
Moury Sultana (Class 2010)
Akia Caine (Class of 2011)
Sebastian Rubino (Class of 2011)
Christopher Bandera (Class of 2011)
Jennifer Aquino (Class of 2010)
Salina Lai (Class of 2010)

HOW TO STUDY FOR MOLECULES TO CELLS

Now, you’re probably wondering how to study for Molecules to Cells. There’s a lot
of information presented, and not as much time as you’d like to learn it. If we had
to compare it to orgo, the material isn’t really harder per se, just that the time you
have to master it makes it harder.

And you’ll see, when you get to pathways, sometimes the info is so much that you
really can’t learn all of it. Take, for instance, the third test you have in the fall
semester, which covered signal transduction, amino acid metabolism, the urea
cycle, all the rest of nitrogen metabolism, diabetes, hormones, nutrition, and
twelve genetic disease presentations. That’s a lot of stuff, especially with Dr.
Freedman, who puts the minutest detail in his handouts. That’s a whole lot of info
to take in and digest, so we’ll tell you how we learned stuff for m2c, and maybe
it’ll help you out. This is kind of specific for this class, so it may not work for other
classes, and also, this may not work for everyone, so you have to try and see
what your own study style is.
First, try to form a study group. Study groups really help, even if you do them
only right before a test or something, because someone’s bound to know
something you don’t know, and vice versa. Just questioning each other back and
forth is really helpful.

Also, you don’t always have to read before lecture, although it helps. Even if you
don’t, it’s really helpful to write notes on whatever’s mentioned in class, to look at
later. And when you read the chapters, remember that the chapters often have
overdetailed stuff that you don’t really need to know, especially that Smith
textbook, if you all are using that this term. Lecture notes are the main focus of
the exams. Use the textbook as a foundation and focus on what is presented in
lectures. Definitely know what’s in the textbook, but in terms of what small little
details to memorize, go right to the lecture notes. The lecture notes are all
pictures, so definitely know all the details concerning that pictures. Remember,
pictures are worth a thousand words (sorry for the cliché).

Advice from Samuel Anandan:

M2C was a learning experience in studying for me. I started out studying a lot first
term, and it definitely paid off in the end because reviewing for the miniboard
wasn’t so bad. But, depending on how easy this material comes to you, you may
not have to spend hours on this class every day. It’s not about how much time
you spend as much as how effectively you use the time.

There are multiple techniques you can use while studying. If you’re not sure
whether a method will work, try it out and see. Some people just read the book,
and read it again later, and make the information stick. Alternatively, what i used
to do was write notes outlining each chapter in detail, and then I won’t look at the
book again except maybe to look at the pictures. Then, before tests, I’d just read
the notes I made. I only started doing this with m2c. It’s really time consuming
but helpful. Another option, which was recommended by upper years and i used
near the end, was making up questions based on the readings as you read. This
really helps, since you can always just go back and test your knowledge of the
material that way. Stuff sticks in your mind that way too. Also, it’s a lot quicker
than writing notes. Some people used flashcards too. The important thing is that if
something doesn’t work for the first exam, try something new.

One thing, and this is really important.... make sure you go all out with
studying this term. You definitely want a cushion for next term, so that even if
you happen to do bad (but don’t slack off, lol) you won’t be in real danger of
failing. There are a good number of people in my year in that position, who were
borderline first term and are now in great danger of remediation. And with a class
like this, you definitely don’t want that. Especially considering how packed
everything becomes at the end of second term with papers, finals, workshops,
etc. Go all out this term, and you won’t regret it. Plus, reviewing for the
miniboard will be a whole bunch easier.
For now, learn your amino acids, including the one-letter abbreviations.
This way, you can come up with really easy mnemonics when you get to harder
pathways. For example, the amino acids cleaved by chymotrypsin are methionine,
phenylalanine, tryptophan, leucine, tyrosine. Just memorizing that is annoying,
but if you come up with a mnemonic based on the one-letter abbreviations, it’s a
lot easier. For example, when learning about what amino acids one enzyme
cleaves, one of my classmates came up with My Freaking Women Lick Yams.
Trust me, it’s really helpful to learn the amino acids and structure, three letter
abbreviations, and definitely the one-letter abbreviations. I know this was covered
in orgo, so just review the packets you got, or the amino acid chart in the
textbook.

When studying pathways, I found it super helpful to write my own pathway map,
intergrating all of glucose metabolism on one map, and lipid metabolsim on the
other. This was very helpful, because after writing it over and over, i had that
mental picture in my head. Include in the map when ATP is formed, regulation,
enzyme names, and names of the compounds. The key to pathways is
understanding the relevance of it first, so you can at least find it tolerable. i
actually liked them, because the big picture when all the pathways are together is
pretty cool. But the names have a logical progression much of the time. For
example, in glycolysis you have fructose-6-phosphate, which undergoes a
reaction catalyzed by phosphofructokinase-1. Now you don’t have to totally
memorize the next compound. A kinase phosphorylates, so the next compound’s
gonna be fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. Minimize the amount of memorizing you
have to do by structuring things in your head so you can figure out stuff based
on what you memorized. Like, if you memorize that dehydrogenases make NADH
or NADPH, then you don’t have to memorize when NADH and NADPH are made in
a pathway. Go for the bigger picture and work your way down, and don’t do rote
memorization, do structured memorization.

Advice from Moury Sultana:

Always review the quizzes after they are available and make sure you allot a
good amount of time to review them. Hastily reviewing the quizzes would mean
you might not understand the questions fully and because you can’t take them
home or take notes on it you should make sure you understand what you did
wrong and why the right answer is right. Usually Professor Piñol-Roma is around
when you are going over the quizzes so you can always ask him your questions.
Also review all the quizzes before every test, it’s a good refresher.

Using BRS or Pretest (or both!) to do questions before an exam is a good idea.
Sometimes the questions show up on the test! It’s a good idea to do these
questions after you have finished studying. Try to group your wrong answers into
general areas (i.e Fatty Acid metabolism) so that you can go back to those areas
and review them.

Always keep in mind the fed/fast cycle. That is the big picture you need to go back
on. Everything you learn can tie together to these cycles. Make sure you
understand first what happens during these cycles and then go into details. Many
people get bogged down by details (which are on the tests) and forget how this
plays a role in our bodies everyday and this main concept will help you
understand questions that link different areas of metabolism together.

Don’t even bother using the textbooks for Professor Chan’s lectures on action
potentials. They are useless in these areas. Instead pay extra attention in class
and write down all the questions you have so that you can ask them during the
review that Professor Chan hold before the exam. Use online resources or
readings from other textbooks to help you with this topic.

Professor Freedman takes his questions from the handouts he gives. They may
not be the most visually appealing handouts but they have all the information you
need to know. Don’t ignore anything on his handouts because everything on them
is important.

Lippincotts is awesome! Live it, breathe it, have dinner with it. Make it your study
buddy but don’t rely on it solely. The flowcharts in the back are a great way of
consolidating information.
 QUIZZES AND EXAMS

Quizzes are 1% of your grade, so although each one is worth around 1 point, it
adds up, so do take them seriously. Study for the quizzes by reading your
assigned readings and knowing your lectures slides really well.

Something else really important is how to take the test itself. If you know a lot of
you’re stuff, you’ll be able to answer most, if not all, of the questions. However,
you may see stuff you don’t know, and that’s when you have to do what i call
systematic guessing. It’s definitely possible to guess correctly on these tests if
you know enough. Here’s an example. Try to do it right now, even though you
may not know anything about it.

Which of the following is true of the electron transport chain?

a) Cytochrome oxidase reduces oxygen to water.
b) Oxygen is required for ATP generation.
c) Cyanide can inhibit cytochrome oxidase.
d) b and c
e) all of the above

Questions like this have appeared on our test, where you may have no idea what
they were talking about. So let’s walk through this step by step. Choice A says
that you need cytochrome oxidase to reduce oxygen to water. Sounds like it could
work. Choice B says oxygen is needed to ATP generation. Seems like a feasible
choice. Cyanide can inhibit cytochrome oxidase. Also sounds fine. So now,
everything sounds good, and you’re stuck, right? Not exactly. The first step, and
this is the risk, is taking once choice to be definitely true, and work from there.
Let’s take A to be true, because it has the word oxidase in it, so maybe that has
something to do with oxygen. If A is true, that means oxygen is used, and you
may recall from high school or Bio 207 had the electron transport chain makes
energy. So, if you reduce oxygen, maybe oxygen is needed to make ATP, making
B true. Now A and B are true, because A was a really good indication that B was
true. D is now out, and since you know A and B are both true, the answer must be
E. And you would turn out to be correct. Note that this isn’t a surefire way to get
questions right, but it’s a technique of guessing that can be used to help answer
questions like this on the test. We hope the above explanation made sense to
some extent, but if not, feel free to email SDSG and we will try to better help.
 TEXTBOOKS

Now, the question of textbooks. Here are the books we used for this course and
would recommend. Different books appeal to different types of learning types. If
you learn well from pictures, Lehninger’s is great for a textbook and Lippincott’s is
an awesome review book. If words are more your thing, go with the required
Marks book, and BRS .One thing though. If you decide to use Lippincott’s, read it
along with the course readings, because it’ll clear up a lot of stuff. Honestly,
some of us didn’t even seriously read the textbook for our nitrogen metabolism
test and just used Lippincott’s, and almost everything we needed to know was in
there! But don’t follow that example. Read all your assigned readings along
with Lippincott’s, don’t substitute Lippincott’s, BRS, or any other review book
for the text.

These textbooks can be expensive. If you want to get Lehninger’s, you don’t need
the 4 edition, the 3 edition was fine. You can find a lot of these books used, or
th rd

from upper years. If you want to check them used, check out eBay or half.com.
Alternatively, you can get books from the bookstore, or regular online places like
Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

Textbook Description ISBN

Name
Mark’s Basic required- be sure to do the readings in here.0781721458
Medical This book can be annoyingly written
Biochemistry sometimes, with silly examples and stuff, so do
your best with this book.

The Cell required- this book is better written than0878932143

Marks, but sometimes the readings are like 40
pages long. But if you’re having trouble with a
concept in Marks and it’s covered in The Cell,
it’s easier to learn from The Cell.
Eckert’s This was your Bio of Organisms book. This0716738635
Animal comes in really handy during Dr. Chan’s
Physiology lectures on action potential, because that stuff
is not in any biochem or cell bio book.
Definitely use this to grasp the concepts for
action potentials, electrical potentials across
membranes, ion channels, etc. If you don’t
have it, make a copy from someone who does,
because this is really helpful.

Lippincott’s This book is like gold for this class, because0781722659

Illustrated it’s written in a really clear way with excellent
Reivews: pictures. i didn’t use this much during first
Biochemistry term, but i should’ve. For second term, i didn’t
read the Marks book much for nitrogen
 metabolism but read Lippincott’s well and it
had all you need to know. Definitely get this,
and make sure to get the 3rd Edition and not
the cheaper 2nd edition, because there are big
differences between the two, as the 2nd edition
is 14 years older or so.
BRS Good questions, and great concise review for0683304917
Biochemistry the Miniboard. Also a good read before a test,
to reinforce key facts.
BRS Excellent review for class exams and the078178624X
Biochemistry miniboard, and good questions as well.
and Molecular
Biology
Pre-Test: Definitely the best review source for the0071437479
Biochemistry miniboard. If you use this with BRS and
and Genetics Lippincott’s, you should be good for the
miniboard, because Pre-Test gives you really
good questions that are clinically oriented like
they are on the Miniboard.
Lehninger’s This book is more detailed than Marks, but if0716743396
Principles of you’re looking for a much clearer alternative
Biochemistry with better pictures (and in color, not green
and black like Marks) this is definitely a great
book. You can get the older 3rd edition
because that’s what i used and it had all you
need to know in there.
First Aid for Good tips and mnemonics, very useful before0071461159
the USMLE the miniboard. It really helps on other
Step 1 miniboards too. Definitely check eBay, because
you don’t need a new edition, and older
editions are like $4 including shipping and
stuff. Or better yet, download the PDF 2006
edition from the Sophie Treasure Chest!

If you want to know which books are really necessary, we would say get the
required books, plus BRS, Lippincott’s, and Pre-Test. And First Aid, definitely be
sure to read that before exams and the miniboard, it is an essential resource for
success!

YOUR VERY FIRST MINIBOARD!

Next up, the miniboard. The best strategy is to start reviewing for the miniboard
around a month before, starting with pathways. Pathways are the hardest part to
recall, so definitely start with that. The best book for the miniboard is Pre-
Test. At least, that’s what many of us found, and it helped us immensely. Maybe
three days before the miniboard, do all the biochem question in there, and read
all the answers, even the ones you got right. Be warned that Pre-test has
some wrong answers, so if you really really think you’re right on a question you
just might be. For review, it depends on how good your memory is. If your
memory sucks, you can use Lippincott’s as a general refresher, and then use BRS
for a quick and concise review. If you used Lippincott’s throughout the term as we
recommend, it’ll be much easier for you to go through it. For BRS, definitely read
the last two chapters, on molecular endocrinology and tissue
metabolism. Molecular endocrinology definitely appeared on the miniboard and
is not taught in detail in the course, at least not when we took it. The tissue
metabolism chapter is a nice summary of all the pathways and stuff you learned.

GENETIC DISEASE PRESENTATIONS

Genetic disease presentations come in the second term, where you have to
research a disease Dr. Piñol-Roma gives you, and make a presentation with two
other people (he assigns the groups) and write a paper. You also have to make a
handout. It’s in your best interest to make a short handout because anything on
the handout is fair game for the test. We had some people do a size 10 font, wide
margined front and back info-filled sheet. Now, chances are stuff on the test will
be basic, but still, why take a chance? Your handout can be very short, and it will
not affect your presentation or your grade.
When studying the diseases, try to remember a main point, because the
questions may be very clinical and mention a few characteristic symptoms, or ask
a main feature of the disease. For instance, they may ask what builds up in Tay-
Sachs disease (GM2 gangliosides), or they may ask what disease is characterized
by dark colored urine and madness (acute intermittent porphyria). Don’t stress on
learning every aspect of every disease, it will probably be only like 4 or 5
questions on the exam at most, and probably only 2 or 3. The paper is pretty
straightforward, don’t stress out on that one. Just make sure to include everything
he says, he will send out a format for it during the fall term.

TOP TIPS FOR DOING WELL IN m2c

1.) Read all assigned readings

2.) Memorize things in a structured way rather than by rote, to help you
remember everything
3.) Use guessing to your advantage on multiple choice questions you have
no idea on.
4.) Try different techniques; if one doesn’t work, try another till you find
what works for you.
 5.) Form a study group as early as possible, and definitely try to study in a
group before the exams.
6.) Use Pre-Test for the miniboard
7.) Try to enjoy what you’re learning!

Lastly, try to enjoy the course! You’re learning interesting stuff, from how DNA is
translated into proteins which form enzymes that control the vital metabolic
reactions of your life. Try to remember that important big picture when studying
the small details. And please, don’t get caught up with small details, just try your
very best and we’re sure all of you will succeed! Best of luck, and feel free to
email sophiesurvivalguides@gmail.com with any questions and we’ll try our best
to answer them. Good luck!

ADDITIONAL ADVICE FROM UPPER YEARS

Advice from Akia Caine (M2C, Semester 1)

I thought this term was going to be simple and pleasant. I thought I would just
learn some biochemistry and write a paper. I figured that I was good at biology,
and good at chemistry, so biochemistry wouldn’t be so bad. As a result, I got lazy.
I hope you have developed discipline and self control, and effective study habits.
If not, this is your last chance to do so.

This class requires studying and reading, and lots of it. You should read the
textbook before class, and the lecture slides if they are available. You should read
the textbook and the lecture slides and notes after class as well. You have to
make sure that you know everything on the lecture slides. The exams are not
impossible. It is entirely multiple choice, so just make sure that you skip whatever
you don’t immediately know on the first pass, then answer those questions later.
Make sure you answer every question, even if it’s a guess. Use other questions on
the exam to help you answer other questions. You should not miss any lectures,
nor should you sleep during class. You need to take good notes, and also compare
your notes with your classmates. You may think that your notes are complete, but
there is always something that you missed but someone else wrote down, and
visa versa.

This course promotes self directed learning. Some lecturers are great, some are
good, some not so good, so it is up to you to fill in the gaps in teaching ability. You
must purchase the textbook and read it. I also purchased “The Cell” and have not
used it at all. I think that the Lippincott’s Review book for biochemistry is too
vague to be useful. So stick with the normal textbook and the lecture slides. I like
that the BRS book is small but has all the diagrams needed, so that you can study
on the train and whatnot.

Advice from Sebastian Rubino (M2C, Semester 1)

Molecules to Cells is an awesome course. It is different from the chemistry

courses you have just completed because it is not taught by one person. Dr.
Pinol-Roma is the course director and aside from teaching, he also arranges for
different expert lecturers to teach a series of lectures on their particular subject.

Many students find the BRS, Pretest, and/or Lippincotts review books very
helpful. As far as the required texts, the Marks’ book is an extremely
comprehensive book. Often times it includes minute details upon which you will
not be tested; you will quickly learn how to decipher what you may skim and what
you really need to read. The Cooper and Hausman book is more of a traditional
text and is slightly easier to read. The best advice I can give for this course is to
ALWAYS TRY TO KEEP UP WITH THE SYLLABUS AND THE ASSIGNED
READING. The reason for this is because, often times, lectures move swiftly.
There is a limited amount of time to cover a certain amount of material and
lecturers need to keep a steady pace when covering the material.

As you can see there is a plethora of material out there; two textbooks, three
review books, and any other references you may find. You can easily become
overwhelmed with all that learning material in a fairly short amount of time. You
should try to find a combination of learning material that works best for you.
Additionally, another reason to keep up with the syllabus and assigned reading is
because quizzes are given after a certain amount of material is covered. The
quizzes are not surprises BUT they are announced with approximately a week’s
notice (sometimes more, sometimes less) and it is hard to catch up on reading
assignments once you are behind. Each quiz is worth 1% of your final grade. If
you do the required reading for the quiz, you will be fine. After the quizzes are
graded, you have the ability to go over them. THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO
REVIEW AND TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE. Try to do your best on these quizzes
but also remember that they are to serve as learning tools. Do not get upset if
you do not perform as expected on any particular quiz; see where you made your
mistake and correct it for the exam.

Many students form study groups as way of learning and reviewing the material.
This is helpful because something you know may help a fellow student and visa
versa. However, this method of studying may not be productive for everyone.
Different people learn differently. One last thing you should try to do is KEEP
THE BIG PICTURE IN MIND. The fed/fasting states are very complex and
involve many different pathways. It may be easy to exclusively focus on
particular pathways when initially learning them, but you should also try to
remember how they affect other pathways and the general purpose of the state
overall.

Lastly, as previously stated, everyone does things differently. This is to serve as a

guide and is not absolute. When you take the class, you will be able to assess
within the first few weeks what you personally need to do in order to be
successful. Good Luck!

Advice from Chris Bandera (M2C, Semester 1)

This course offers you a glimpse of future medical school courses, and lays a
foundation upon which most of your future education will be based. The material
in this course is not harder than that of your previous Organic Chemistry course.
However, you will learn more in a shorter amount of time. Therefore, you
especially have to know how to manage your time efficiently in order to succeed
in this course.

It is important to complete the assigned readings prior to the lecture, so you have
a better understanding of what is being taught. It is easy to get lost during
lecture if you do not understand a particular point. There are two required
textbooks for this course – Marks’ Basic Medical Biochemistry (Smith, Marks, and
Lieberman, 2 ed.) and The Cell: A Molecular Approach (Cooper and Hausman, 4
nd th

ed.). Marks’ is a bit dense, but completely presents the material with helpful
clinical applications, and has great chapter summaries and review questions. The
Cell, however, is more simplified. As a rule of thumb, consult Mark’s first, then
read The Cell to simplify anything that confused you.

Also, it is helpful to obtain review books to further supplement the required

readings. BRS: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Swanson, Kim, and
Glucksman, 4 ed.) provides concise outlines of key concepts, and is perfect to
th

review right before a test. Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews: Biochemistry

(Champe, Harvey, and Ferrier, 3 ed.) provides helpful illustrations of metabolic
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pathways. Finally, PreTest: Biochemistry and Genetics (Wilson, 3 ed.) provides

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clinically-oriented practice questions (This is also available through the Sophie

Davis Treasure Chest). It is important, however, to do the assigned readings
before consulting these books.

You will take four exams in the spring semester of this course. Each exam
consists entirely of multiple choice questions. The timing is paced to prepare you
for your first Mini-Board, which you will take following the second semester of this
course. In preparation for tests, the lecture handouts and your class notes are
your best sources of information. Every question will have been covered at some
point, either in a lecture or in a small group discussion, where you clinically apply
lecture concepts. Also, review your quizzes to understand broad concepts. While
the material may not reappear on tests, the format foreshadows the test. When
taking the tests, use basic multiple-choice methods to eliminate incorrect answer
choices. You will almost always be able to limit possible answers to two or three
choices.
Furthermore, many students suggest forming study groups. While this may help
some people, you need to know how you study best. If you study best alone, do
not join a group because other people suggest it. Only join if you know you work
well in a group. Also, Dr. Piñol-Roma is readily available to answer any questions
you may have.

It is extremely important to know broad concepts in this class, and then apply
them to particular situations. If you stress over every detail, you will have entirely
too much to learn in a short amount of time. Instead, a thorough understanding
of general concepts allows you to answer more questions correctly through
application than minute details will. For example, when you get into pathways,
not every enzyme or intermediary step is important. Only major rate-limiting
enzymes and intermediates are important enough to warrant your full
understanding. This method will make you more efficient when studying.

Finally, know that you receive one grade for this two semester course. It would
be smart to work hard this semester, so that you have a cushion for the fall
semester – just in case.

Advice from Salina Lai (M2C, Semester 2)

Read all assigned readings. I recommend going through, at the very least, the
diagrams in Marks and Lippincott’s the night before a lecture, then subsequently
rereading afterwards to fill in on anything you’ve missed.
Quizzes count! 2 years, make sure you study all your slides and notes before
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one. If there are pathways involved, make sure you know those, too, including
rate-limiting enzymes, several drugs that inhibit specific parts of the pathway, and
how pathways interact.
3 years, you should know your fed/starving/diabetic states by now. Use this
rd

semester to integrate what you’ve learned this past year to the fullest extent.
Don’t leave PreTest until miniboard time. Go through it before every exam. As for
BRS, use the newer version (BRS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 4 editionth

by Swanson): I think the diagrams are better illustrated, there are fewer errors,
and its emphasis on cell biology and genetics is much better than the older
version’s.
Come miniboard time, I highly recommend taping huge sheets of paper on the
wall, writing out and linking all the pathways together (color-coding works!), and
just study from it for several weeks.

Advice from Jennifer Aquino (M2C, Semester 2)

This semester, keep pathways in mind. You’ll learn about amino acids, and how
they feed into the cycles you’ve already gone through. It’s smart to use the new
material to review the old material for the miniboard. This semester, you’ll also be
getting lectures from Dr. Kirzenbaum (Histology). The material on cell adhesion,
mitosis and meiosis takes him about 2 weeks to cover in M2C but only 1-2 hours
in histology. So, I suggest learning it well this time around so it’s just a review
later on. If you take notes as you read then you might want to photocopy an
upper year’s histology book, take notes now, and save them for histology. Also,
you get lectures from Dr. Gresik on cancer and the cell cycle. Again, this stuff
comes back and there are some questions on the miniboard on Dr. Gresik’s
material. Oh the miniboard! Okay! For this miniboard, I went all out because I was
so nervous and paranoid. Anyway, I used pretest (learn from the questions you
get wrong), I READ BRS THOROUGHLY (I started Thanksgiving break by the way), I
read KAPLAN after going through BRS. Also, I am the kind of person that has to
have a quick review before an exam. So a couple of days before the miniboard I
looked at the biochemistry section in FIRST AID. The morning of the miniboard I
also looked at it. It’s a nice, quick summary with cool mnemonics. Lastly,
presentations! The diseases are interesting and some will come back in other
courses. Work together, split the work, and learn! Plus, you get to dress up. That’s
always fun J

SPECIFIC EXAM ADVICE

SPRING TERM, EXAM 3 ADVICE

So, it’s about time for m2c Exam 3. All those darn pathways, fructose that and
galactose this and enoyl-CoA and NADH, etc. It’s a lot at first, especially after you
learn all the carbohydrate stuff, and then have to go and learn all the lipid stuff.
But it’s not that bad, if you pace yourself from the start. But this may definitely be
the hardest test so far from Term 1. Here’s what we think you should do.

First, read Lehninger’s Principles of Biochemistry. The book is available from

eBay, but you can also get it from the LRC. It has EXCELLENT diagrams, so if you
learn through pictures, this is definitely the book for you. For this section,
basically read through the relevant Lehninger material first, looks at your lecture
notes and handouts, and then go to the textbook and review books.

Second, come up with mnemonics. If you’re having problems memorizing the

names, which can be a lot, try to come up mnemonics. This is one i heard for the
TCA Cycle, which was pretty helpful: Oh Cindy Is Kinky So She Fornicates More
Often (Oxaloacetate, Citrate, Isocitrate, α-Ketoglutarate, Succinyl-Coa, Succinate,
Fumarate, Malate). If there’s no existing mnemonic that you know of, come up
with your own. For example, for oxidation of odd numbered fatty acids, you can
come up with this nifty Star Wars mnemonic: Palpatine Does Magic Lightsaber
Moves Superbly (Propionyl-Coa, D-Methylmalonyl-CoA, L-Methylmalonyl-Coa,
Succinyl-Coa). Mnemonics really help, so try to come up with them from the start,
especially with this lipid stuff.

Third, use Lippincotts, especially for integration of pathways. This may not
be for everyone, but for me, Lippincott’s was a very clear and concise review of
the pathways. Especially read the sections on the integration of metabolic
pathways in the well fed and fasting states. These put everything together, so you
can see the big picture. That was the big plus of Lippincott’s, it allows you to see
the big picture of what you’re learning, which makes learning the smaller details a
bit easier.

Fourth, draw maps. There are maps available already that you can look at, but
drawing them out really helps. You can pretty much put all the carbohydrate
cycles (glycogen synthesis, glycogenolysis, glycolysis, pentose phosphate
pathway, gluconeogenesis, TCA cycle, electron transport chain, galactose and
fructose metabolism, glucuronide formation) on one page. Lipid metabolism isn’t
easy to fit on one page, but as many as it takes, it’s easier if you draw out maps
over and over till you master these pathways.

When you’re trying to learn which reaction produces NADH, FADH , etc. keep this
2

in mind. If an enzyme is named reductase, most likely it

produces NADH or FADH2. A kinase produces ATP or an equivalent (like GTP), and
this is also an example of substrate level phosphorylation, which basically is
creating ATP (or equivalent) during a pathway rather than through the electron
transport chain. So, the reaction of succinyl-CoA to succinate is an example of
substrate level phosphorylation, while the reaction of isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate
is not an example of substrate level phosphorylation. And most carboxylases (not
sure if all of them) have biotin as a cofactor.
And remember that glutathione (gly-cys-glu) is important in detoxification of
hydrogen peroxide. This is accomplished by NADPH, which is made by Glucose-6-
Phosphate Dehydrogenase. A definicy in this, for most cells, doesn’t impace
detoxification a lot because malic enzyme, which converts malate to pyruvate,
also produces NADPH. However, in red blood cells, which don’t have malic
enzyme, glucose-6-phospate dehydrogenase deficiency can be really bad news.

Just remember, pace yourself, get sleep and eat well, and you’ll get through all
these pathways. Good luck!

HORMONES ON NITROGEN METABOLISM TEST

For an upcoming test, there are a few questions on hormones that may not have
been emphasized enough in lecture. On our test (fall 2005), there were like four
questions just dealing with cortisol. Here's a basic overview of the cortisol
secretion pathway-

There's a region of your brain called the hypothalamus, which starts off the
pathways for secretion of many hormones. In the case of cortisol, the
hypothalamus secretes CRH (corticotropin releasing hormone), which travels to
the anterior pituitary (don't worry too much about what this is yet, you'll see it
next term). Once it gets there, it causes the anterior pituitary to release ACTH
(adrenocorticotropin releasing hormone), which travels to the zona fasciculata
region of the adrenal glands (right above your kidneys) to make cortisol. You don't
need to know all those details, but basically remember that CRH --> ACTH -->
cortisol. Also, keep in mind that high cortisol levels have a negative feedback
effect on CRH - cortisol goes back to the hypothalamus to inhibit CRH release.

You may also need to know a bit about thyroid hormones. The hypothalamus
secretes TRH (thyrotropin releasing hormone), which goes to the anterior
pituitary to secrete TSH (thyroid secreting hormone). TSH goes to the thyroid
gland (in your neck region), which secretes the thyroid hormones, T3 and T4. T3
is the more active form of the hormone, but more T4 is initially produced because
it's a faster reaction or something. But before you even make T3 and T4, you first
need iodine, which reacts with thryoglobulin to make MIT and DIT
(monoiodotyrosine and diiodotyrosine, respectively). Then, two DITs combine to
make T4, or one MIT and one DIT combine to make T3. So basically, what you
really need to know from this is that 2 DIT = T4, and MIT + DIT = T3, and that
TRH --> TSH --> T3/T4. Also, T3 has a negative feedback effect on TSH
synthesis and release.

Definitely know cortisol for sure, because those questions caught a lot of us by
surprise on the test. Also, if you haven't done so already, definitely look at
Lippincott's for the nitrogen metabolism, it's like gold for the test.
 USEFUL LINKS

Here are some useful sites for Molecules to Cells, courtesy of Akeem Marsh, Class of 2007:

http://bob.usuf2.usuhs.mil/biochem/exams/exams.html (good questions! Maybe kashfi uses this site for

some questions I think)

http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/home.html (no questions, but really good lecture notes on there,

for further explanation and clarification)

http://www.kumc.edu/research/medicine/biochemistry/bioc800/exams.html (some more questions)

http://www.ttuhsc.edu/som/courses/biochem/examdir.htm (more questions)

http://www.fellinahole.com/med/ (website set up and run by former sophie ppl)

http://www.med.uc.edu/medware2/uci_links.htm (general medical school website with links to other
school’s websites with possible useful things)

http://biochem.med.ufl.edu/images/examsandquizzes_fall2003.html (really similar to the style of

questions that you would see on an exam in terms of difficulty, in my opinion)

http://www.pnb.sunysb.edu/hby531/exams.asp (physiology website for action potential, Dr. Chan’s

lecture)

http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/anisamples/molecularbiology/molecularbiology.html (site has

a few but really good animations to help understanding)

http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bstith/cellbio.htm (some more animations but im not sure of how good

they are because it never worked on my computer lol)

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Biology/7-88JProtein-Folding-ProblemFall2003/LectureNotes/index.htm
(explains one of the topics covered in m2c, protein folding)

http://greenberg.srhs.net/Practice_Exams___Helpful_Links/practice_exams___helpful_links.html#link
sunit11 (nice general website with different things covered)
TOP 3 PIECES OF ADVICE FOR GETTING THROUGH 2 Yr., SPRING TERM nd

1.) Study M2C HARD right from the START. It may seem like a lot of information, you may
be tired after Bio-Organic Chemistry, whatever the reason may be. Study HARD from the start.
Do well on the first two tests. By the time your third test rolls around, a CHA draft will be due
here, a Medical Anthopology draft here, probably an essay for a scholarship or fellowship’s in
the works, and you have to learn all those darned pathways. It’s a lot safer to go all out at the
start, when there’s barely any HMS2 or HMS1 work relatively. By the end, near the final, it’s
even harder to time manage, at least for me. The CHA is due, the Medical Anthopology
Portfolio is due, perhaps two response papers like we had, plus study DNA stuff and review the
old stuff. Sometimes it’s too much, so if you study hard from the start and can build up a good
average, you have a buffer zone to help you for the final. If you don’t do as well, it’s ok, you’re
average will drop, but you can try and make that up in M2C part 2. But if you fail from the start,
you’re in a hole, and even if you want to try really hard to come back up and, it gets harder and
harder because of the other classes. So please, study HARD FROM THE START.
2.) Do CHA drafts correctly from the start. It’s annoying, and it takes a good amount of
work, unless you’re a master crammer or something. But if you do your drafts as correctly as
possible from the get go, you won’t have as much editing to do at the end. The CHA really isn’t
so hard in terms of length, because you’ll see when you start, there’s a lot to write about, and
the pages fill up fast. So don’t be concerned about the length. The fact that there are drafts
makes life a lot easier, so use that to your advantage.
3.) The readings for HMS1 aren’t really necessary. They take away from time you can spend
on the CHA, M2C, whatever. They’ll tell you time manage your stuff so you can do everything,
but realistically, sometimes you have to choose and prioritize. This is of lowest priority, in my
opinion. The HMS1 readings may or may not help you on exams, but you may have review
sessions that give you a lot of the questions, plus Dr. Brandon has a review sheet that’s really
helpful. For HMS2, you’ll look at the articles he gives you for parts of your CHA, so you can
read them that way.