Biological Molecules Flashcards
Macromolecules
Very large bio molecules
Polymers, made of many monomer subunits
Synthesized by condensation synthesis
ex) Carbs, proteins, and nucleic acids
Large Bio Molecules
Not as large as macromolecules
ex) lipids
Monomers
Can exist on their own
Building blocks of polymers
ex) Glucose - can be synthesized into starch
Polymer
Linked monomers by covalent bond
Condensation Reaction / Hydrolysis
Linkage of molecules through the removal of water(H and OH)
Separation of molecules through the addition of water
Monosaccharides
Carbohydrate
Monomer sugar, consisting of 3-7 C backbone
Highly soluble
Used to form part of other molecules (nucleotides)
Used as energy metabolism
Oligosaccharides
Carbohydrate
Short chain of 2+ monosaccharides
Chains from through condensation synthesis
Shorter chains are highly soluble
Longer chains insoluble and attached to proteins or lipids
Polysaccharides
Carbohydrate
100s to 1000s monomer subunits
Polar, but poorly water soluble
1) Starch 2) Glycogen 3) Cellulose
Fats
Lipid
Hydrophobic - many C-C and C-H bonds
3C backbone attached to 3 fatty acids
Saturated - only C-C bonds
Unsaturated - 1+ C=C bonds
Cic - linear Trans - Bent (H on different sides)Phospholipids
Lipid
Structural
Made of 2 hydrophobic fatty acid tail + hydrophilic
phosphate headgroup + glycerol backbone
Form bilayers in cellular membrane
Steroids
Lipid Hydrophobic, no fatty acid tails 4 C-based rings Hormones: estrogen, testosterone Structural: influences fluidity of membranes
Proteins
Structural: Cellular Cytoskeleton
Catalytic: All enzymes are proteins
Made up of monomer amino acids (20)
Amino Acids
Amino acids are a central carbon, attached to an amino
group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen group, and a side
chain (R group - which defines the amino acid)
Joined through peptide bond (Condensation reaction)
- Carboxyl group of 1 and amino group of another bond,
releasing water
Protein Structure
Primary: Linear sequence of amino acids
Secondary: Due to alpha helixes and beta-pleated sheets,
and H bonds between different amino acids, no R
groups
Tertiary: Due to 4 types of chemical bonds between R
groups and different parts of a protein
Quaternary: Only proteins with 2+ polypeptide subunits
Polypeptide: string of amino acids
Denaturation
Proteins changing from their native conformation (natural shape)
Can be revered sometimes, unless change from high temp
