DNA bond strength (nucleotides)
“Crazy Glue”:
Strongest bonds are between Cytosine and Guanine, strong like Crazy Glue (3 H-bonds), whereas the A=T only have 2 H-bonds.
This is relevant to DNA replication, as the weaker A=T will be the site where RNA primer makes the initial break.

Mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) properties
“mt DNA”.
mt stands for:
Maternal Transfer
Mutates Tremendously (high mutation rate)

tRNA: molecular shape
Fortunately, tRNA (Transfer RNA) is shaped like a capital T.

Pyrimidines are CUT from purines
Pyrimidines are Cytosine, Uracil, Thiamine and are one ring structures.
Purines are double ring structures.

Folate deficiency: causes
A FOLIC DROP:

• Alcoholism
• Folic acid antagonists
• Oral contraceptives
• Low dietary intake
• Infection with Giardia
• Celiac sprue
• Dilatin
• Relative folate deficiency
• Old
• Pregnant

Hypervitaminosis A: signs and symptoms
“Increased Vitamin A makes you HARD“:

• Headache/ Hepatomegaly
• Anorexia/ Alopecia
• Really painful bones
• Dry skin/ Drowsiness

B vitamin names
“The Rhythm Nearly Proved Contagious”:
In increasing order:

• Thiamine (B1)
• Riboflavin (B2)
• Niacin (B3)
• Pyridoxine (B6)
• Cobalamin (B12)

Infantile Beriberi symptoms
Restlessness
Sleeplessness
Breathlessness
Soundlessness (aphonia)
Eatlessness (anorexia)
Great heartedness (dilated heart)
Alternatively: Get 5 of ’em with BERI: Breathless/ Big hearted, Eatless, Restless, Insomnia.

Niacin deficiency: signs and symptoms
The famous 4 D’s:

• Diarrhoea
• Dermatitis
• Dementia
• Death (if untreated)

Vitamin B3 (niacin, nicotinic acid) deficiency: pellagra
The 3 D‘s of pellagra:

• Dermatitis
• Diarrhea
• Dementia

Note vitamin B3 is the 3 D’s.

Vitamins: which are fat soluble
KADE:

• Vitamin K
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E

Vitamins: which are fat soluble
“The FAT cat is in the ADEK (attic)”:
Fat soluble vitamins are A,D,E,K.

G protein type for respective receptors
“KISS and KICK till you’re SICK of SEX” (QISS and QIQ till you’re SIQ of SQS):
This gives the G-protein type (Gq, Gi, or Gs) for all the receptors. Receptors are in alphabetical order:

• alpha1=Q
• alpha2=I
• beta1=S
• beta3=S
• M1=Q
• M2=I
• M3=Q
• D1=S
• D2=I
• H1=Q
• H2=S
• V1=Q
• V2=S

Golgi complex: functions
“Golgi Distributes A SPAM“:

• Distributes proteins and lipids from ER
• Add mannose onto specific lysosome proteins
• Sulfation of sugars and slected tyrosine
• Proteoglycan assembly
• Add O-oligosugars to serine and threnonine
• Modify N-ologosugars on asparagine

Metabolic acidosis (normal anion-gap): causes
With hyperkalemia: RAISE K+:

• RTA type 4
• Aldosterone or mineralocorticord deficiency
• Iatrogenic: NH4Cl, HCl
• “Stenosis”: obstructive uropathy
• Early uremia

With hypokalemia: ReDUCE K+:

• Renal TA type 1 and 2
• Diarrhoea
• Urine diversion into gut
• Carbonate anhydrase inhibitor
• Ex-hyperventilation

Metabolism sites
“Use both arms to HUG“:

• Heme synthesis
• Urea cycle
• Gluconeogenesis

These reactions occur in both cytoplasm and mitochondria.

Na/K pump action
(Sing loudly to the chorus of “Kiss Him Goodbye”): “Na, Na, Na — out! Na, Na, Na — out! K, Kgoes…inside!”
Action of pump is 3 Na out and 2 K in

Na/K pump: concentrations of Na vs. K on inside/outside of cell, pump action, number of molecules moved
HIKIN‘:
There is a HIgh K concentration INside the cell.
From this can deduce that the Na/K pump pumps K into cell and Na out of cell.
Alternatively: When I was learning this pump (circa 1992), a band that was “in” was Kris Kross, and a band that was “out” was “Sha Na Na Na“:
So pump moves K K (2 K) in and Na Na Na (3 Na) out.
Sadly, as infectious as their debut album was, Kris Kross can really no longer be classed as “in”.

Na+/K+ pump: movement of ions and quantity
K+ and in each consist of 2 characters, so so 2 K+ are pumped in.
Na+ and out each consist of 3 characters, so 3 Na+ are pumped out.

 Tangier’s disease: hallmark
“Tangierene tonsils”:
Hallmark is large orange tonsils.
Important clinical note: there is no increased risk of atherosclerosis, just like eating tangerenes.

Cell division
“People Meet And Talk.”

• Prophase
• Metaphase
• Anaphase
• Telophase

DNA bond strength (nucleotides)
“Crazy Glue”:
Strongest bonds are between Cytosine and Guanine, strong like Crazy Glue (3 H-bonds), whereas the A=T only have 2 H-bonds.
This is relevant to DNA replication, as the weaker A=T will be the site where RNA primer makes the initial break.

Mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) properties
“mt DNA”.
mt stands for:
Maternal Transfer
Mutates Tremendously (high mutation rate)

tRNA: molecular shape
Fortunately, tRNA (Transfer RNA) is shaped like a capital T.

Pyrimidines are CUT from purines
Pyrimidines are Cytosine, Uracil, Thiamine and are one ring structures.
Purines are double ring structures.

Van den Bergh reaction (Jaundice test)
“Indirect reacting bilirubin = Unconjugated bilirubin”:
Both start with vowels, so they go together: Indirect & Unconjugated.

Heme synthesis: amino acid precursors to basic unit of porphyrins, heme (pyrrole ring)
“Dracula wants to Suck a Co-ed’s blood [think heme] with his Glystening teeth!”:
Succinyl CoA and Glycine are precursor amino acids to pyrrole rings, which is the basic unit of porphyrins and heme.

Hemoglobin binding curve: causes of shift to right
“CADET, face right!”:

• CO2
• Acid
• 2,3-DPG (aka 2,3 BPG)
• Exercise
• Temperature

Porphyrias: acute intermittent porphyria symptoms
5 P’s:

• Pain in abdomen
• Polyneuropathy
• Psychologial abnormalities
• Pink urine
• Precipitated by drugs (eg barbiturates, oral contraceptives, sulpha drugs)

Sickle cell anemia: mutation
“HbS isn’t Very Good”:
At Sixth position of HB beta chain, Valine is present instead of Glutamic acid.

Sickle cell disease pathophysiology
SICKle cell disease is due to a Substitution of the SICKsth amino acid of the B chain.

Vitamin K dependent cofactors
“Several Tend To Nicely Stop Clots”:
Factor Seven, Ten, Two, Nine.
Protein S, Protein C.

Coagulation common pathway: factors in order
10 + 5 – 2 = 13
Coagulation common pathway:
Factor X to Factor V to Factor II to Factor XIII

Adrenaline mechanism
“ABC of Adrenaline”:
Adrenaline–> activates Beta receptors–> increases Cyclic AMP

Insulin: function
ININsul stimulates 2 things to go
IN 2 cells: Potassium and Glucose.

Glucagon function
“Mr. Gluca has Gone to the cAMP to bring out some Glucose“:
Glucagon elevates glucose by cAMP mechanism.

Enzyme kinetics: competitive vs. non-competitive inhibition

• Oxidoreductases
• Transferases
• Hydrolases
• Isomerases
• Ligases
• Lyases

Fabry’s disease
FABRY’S:

• Foam cells found in glomeruli and tubules/ Febrile episodes
• Alpha galactosidase A deficiency/ Angiokeratomas
• Burning pain in extremities/ BUN increased in serum/ Boys
• Renal failure
• YX genotype (male, X linked recessive)
• Sphingolipidoses

Phenylketonuria: which enzyme is deficient
PHenylketonuria is caused by a deficiency of:
Phenylalanine
Hydroxylase

Pompe’s disease: type
“Police = Po + lys“:
Pompe’s disease is a lysosomal storage disease (alpha 1,4 glucosidase).

Pyruvate: products of complete oxidation
“4 Naked Fun 3 Coeds + 1 Guy”:
Complete oxidation of pyruvate yields:

• 4 NADH
• FADH2
• 3 CO2
• 1 GTP

Catabolism steps of branched chain amino acids
“Truck hit the Ox to Death”:

• Transamination
• Oxidative decarboxylation
• Dehydrogenation

Essential amino acids
PVT. TIM HALL:

• Phe
• Val
• Thr
• Trp
• Ile
• Met
• His
• Arg
• Leu
• Lys

Pvt. is short for Private in the military.
Arg and His are considered semiessential.
Alternatively: “MATT VIL PHLy”.

Essential amino acids
“PVT. TIM HALL always argues, never tires”:

• Phe
• Val
• Thr
• Trp
• Ile
• Met
• His
• Arg
• Lue
• Lys

Always argues: the A is for Arg, not Asp.
‘Never tires': T is not Tyr, but is both Thr and Trp.

Fasting state: branched-chain amino acids used by skeletal muscles
“Muscles LIVe fast”:

• Leucine
• Isoleucine
• Valine

 AcetylCoA and acetacetylCoA: amino acids forming them
“A Lighter Lease” (A LyTr LeIs):

• A=AcetylCoA or Acetoacetyl CoA
• Ly=Lysine
• Tr=Tryptophan
• Le=Leucine
• Is=Isoleucine

BUN:creatinine elevation: causes
ABCD:

• Azotremia (pre-renal)
• Bleeding (GI)
• Catabolic status
• Diet (high protein parenteral nutrition)

Creatine phosphate: amino acid precursors
“Nice GAMs!”:

• Glycine
• Arginine
• Methionine

Gam is slang for a person’s leg, especiallay an attractive female’s leg: “Nice gams = nice legs!”
Creatine phosphate is a muscle energy store, and spontaneously converts to creatinine which is excreted in the urine in direct proportion to muscle mass: clinically useful, such as in MS Dx.

Nitric oxide: amino acid precursor
When the dentist works on your teeth, you say, “AAArg! (Arginine)” before he administersNitric Oxide (NO) to take the pain away.
Other players necessary for NO synthesis: NO synthase, Ca++, NADPH.

Urea Cycle
Ordinarily, Careless Crappers, Are Also Frivolous About Urination.

• Ornithine
• Carbamoyl
• Citrulline
• Arginosuccinate
• Aspartate
• Fumarate
• Arginine
• Urea

Glycogen storage: Anderson’s (IV) vs. Cori’s (III) enzyme defect
ABCD:
Anderson’s=Branching enzyme.
Cori’s=Debranching enzyme.
Otherwise, can’t really distinguish clinically.
 
Glycogen storage: names of types I through VI
“Viagra Pills Cause AMajor Hardon”:

• Von Gierke’s
• Pompe’s
• Cori’s
• Anderson’s
• McArdle’s
• Her’s

 Type 1 glycogen storage disease
Type 1 = one (Von), ie Von Giereke’s disease

Glycolysis steps
“Goodness Gracious, Father Franklin Did Go By Picking Pumpkins (to) Prepare Pies”:

• Glucose
• Glucose-6-P
• Fructose-6-P
• Fructose-1,6-diP
• Dihydroxyacetone-P
• Glyceraldehyde-P
• 1,3-Biphosphoglycerate
• 3-Phosphoglycerate
• 2-Phosphoglycerate (to)
• Phosphoenolpyruvate [PEP]
• Pyruvate

‘Did’, ‘By’ and ‘Pies’ tell you the first part of those three: di-, bi-, and py-.
‘PrEPare’ tells location of PEP in the process.
Phosphorylation cascade: action during low glucose
“In the Phasted State, Phosphorylate”:
The phosphorylation cascade becomes active when blood glucose is low.
Citric acid cycle compounds
“Oh Citric Acid Is Of (course) A SiLly STupid Funny Molecule”:

• Oxaloacetate
• Citrate
• Aconitate
• Isocitrate
• Oxalosuccinate
• Alpha-ketoglutarate
• SLucciny-CoA
• STuccinae
• Fumarate
• Malate

SilLy and sTupid used to differentiate succinyL and succinaTe

Citric acid cycle compounds
“Can I Keep Selling Sex For Money, Officer?”:

• Citrate
• Isocitrate
• alpha Ketogluterate
• Succinyl CoA
• Succinate
• Fumerate
• Malate
• Oxaloacetate

Citric acid cycle compounds
“Oh! Can I Keep Some Succinate For Myself?”:

• Oxaloacetate
• Citrate
• Isocitrate
• Ketoglutarate
• Succinyl coA
• Succinate
• Fumarate
• Malate

Citric acid cycle compounds
“Our City Is Kept Safe And Sound From Malice”:

• Oxaloacetate
• Citrate
• Isocitrate
• alpha-Ketoglutarate
• Succinyl-CoA
• Succinate
• Fumarate
• Malate

Citric acid cycle compounds
“Can I Ask Sharon Stone For My Orgasm?”:

• Citrate
• Isocitrate
• Alpha-Ketoglutarate
• Succinyl CoA
• Succinate
• Fumerate
• Maleate
• Oxaloacetate

Dicarboxylic acids (alpha, omega) C2 through C10: common names
“Oh My, Such Good Apple Pie, Sweet As Sugar!”:

• Oxalic
• Malonic
• Succinic
• Glutaric
• Adipic
• Pimelic
• Suberic
• Azelaic
• Sebacic

Galactosaemia: enzyme deficiency
GALIPUT:
Galactose 1 Phosphate Uridyl Transferase.
There is an assay called the Galiput test for this.
Hyperglycemia: 3 classic signs and symptoms
DKA

• Dehydrated
• Ketoacidosis
• Acetone breath

Collagen concisely covered
COLLAGEN:

• C-terminal propeptide (procollagen)/ Covalent Cross links/ C vitamin/ Connective tissue/ Cartilage/ Chondroblasts/ Copper Cofactor (Covalent Cross linking)
• Outside the cell is where collagen normally functions/ Osteoblasts/ Osteogenesis imperfecta
• Lysyl hydroxylase/ Lysyl oxidase (oxidatively deaminates lysyl and hydroxylysyl residues to form collagen cross links, last biosynthesis step)
• Long triple helical fibers/ Ligaments
• Alpha chains/ Attached by H bonds form triple helix/ Ascorbate for hydroxylation of lysyl and prolyl residues of pro-Alpha chains (postranslational modification)
• Gly in every third position/ Glycosylation of hydroxyl group of hydroxylysine with Glucose and Galactose; GOlgi allows procollagen to GO outside of cell
• Extracellular matrix/ Eye (cornea, sclera)/ Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
• N-terminal propeptide (procollagen)/ Nonhelical terminal extensions

Note: Procollagen LEAVEs the cell to be cLEAVEd by procollagen peptidases
G6PD: oxidant drugs inducing hemolytic anemia
AAA:

• Antibiotic (eg: sufamethoxazole)
• Antimalarial (eg: primaquine)
• Antipyretics (eg: acetanilid, but not aspirin or acetaminophen)

Carbon monoxide: electron transport chain target
“CO blocks CO”:
Carbon monoxide (CO) blocks Cytochrome Oxidase (CO) 
Electron transport chain: Rotenone’s site of action
Rotenone is a site specific inhibitor of complex one.
Malate-aspartate shuttle
“MAD commute”:
Malate in.
Alpha-ketoglutarate and D (Aspartate) out.

Glycolysis Goodness (Glucose) Gracious, (Glucose-6-P) Father (Fructose-6-P) Franklin (Fructose-1,6-diP) Did (Dihydroxyacetone-P) Go (Glyceraldehyde-P) By (1,3-Biphosphoglycerate) Picking (3-phosphoglycerate) Pumpkins (2-phosphoglycerate) (to) PrEPare (Phosphoenolpyruvate [PEP]) Pies (Pyruvate)

Citric Acid Cycle Oh (Oxaloacetate) Citric (Citrate) Acid (Aconitate) Is (Isocitrate) Of course (Oxalosuccinate) A (Alpha-ketoglutarate) SiLly (Succinyl-CoA) STupid (Succinate) Funny (Fumarate) Molecule (Malate)