BoC macromolecules L2 Flashcards
What are reducing sugars
Eg. glucose, contain reactive carbonyl group so can react with oxidising agents, copper used to measure reducing sugars when measuring blood glucose level
Draw sucrose
see notes (alpha-D-glucose and beta-D-fructose)
Why is sucrose non-reducing?
It doesn’t have a free anomeric carbon
How can polysaccharide chains be assigned directionality?
Based on their reducing and non-reducing end
Branched polysaccharides …
Have a number of non-reducing ends but only 1 reducing end
What is a glycoprotein
A carbohydrate attached to proteins eg. antibodies, addition of sugar adds another level of protein diversity
What is Hyaluronic acid?
a beta 1,4 linked polymer of a dimer, forms very viscous solutions, found as a lubricant in skeletal joints to prevent erosion of cartilage-covered bones under mechanical loading
What does HA do in the embryo?
Forms central backbone of embryonic skeletal cartilage that calcifies and gets replaced by bone
Damage to bone cartilage leads to…
osteoarthritis where underlying bone is exposed
HA gets decorated by…
GAGS, sugar polymers which resist compression under load as the high negative charge density repels adjacent molecules within the cartilage and serves as a shock absorber
In a nucleotide which carbon of the ribose sugar are phosphoryl groups added to?
the 5’ hydroxyl group, forming a phosphate ester bond
What is the 5’ end of DNA
Nucleotide with free 5’ phosphoryl group
3’ end…
has a free 3’ hydroxyl group
Which is more stable ribose or deoxyribose?
Deoxyribose to protect genetic material
What is the difference between thymine and uracil?
The methyl group on thymine
