Carbs and Lipids Flashcards
What are 3 names for carbohydrates?
glycans, saccharides, sugars
Describe the structure of glucose.
- 6 carbons
- 5 have hydroxy groups, 1 has a carbonyl
- aldose sugar
- All but C1 and C6 are chiral, 4 stereocenters, 24 = 16 conformers for a 6 carbons sugar
What conformer of glucose exists in our body?
D - glucose
How do you identify D and L glucose?
- look at carbon #5 (furthest from carbonyl)
- observe if it looks like D-glyceraldehyde or L-glyceraldehyde
- OH on right = D
- OH on left = L
What are epimers?
sugars that differ by stereochemistry at 1 carbon
What is an aldose?
a sugar that has an aldehyde on the end
What is a ketose?
- a sugar that has a ketone instead of an aldehyde
- 1 less chiral center
- 23 - 8 possible isomers
What two functional groups react in aldoses? (To cyclize)
alcohol + aldehyde react to form a hemiacetal
What two functional groups react in ketoses? (To cyclize)
alcohol + ketone react to form a hemiketal
How can you identify R or S configuration?
- look at C2
- R = OH on right, down on ring
- S = OH on left, up on ring
How are the carbons numbered in a ring / linear glucose?
- top to bottom 1 - 6 linear
How does glucose cyclize
How does fructose cyclize?
What is the anomeric carbon?
- the carbonyl carbon
- may be alpha or beta
- alpha = below the ring
- beta = aBove the ring
- this is called the configuration of the anomeric center because interconversion requires bond breaking
Describe the alpha and beta anomers of glucose. What percent of each exists?
- alpha and beta forms freely interconvert - the aldol reaction is a very reversible process (glucose is constantly changing between ring and linear forms)
- D-glucose is 63% beta and 37% alpha
What is required for interconversion between chair conformers?
- interconversion does not require bond breaking (conformations)
Why is beta more stable?
- in the chair conformation the beta version (aBove) is more stable because the bulky groups are equatorial
How are sugars connected?
Glycosidic linkages - bonds connecting anomeric carbon to an alcohol oxygen
How does a glycosidic linkage change a sugar?
- when a glycosidic linkage forms you can no longer convert alpha and beta
- when you can interconvert this is called a reducing sugar
- When you can’t interconvert this is a non-reducing sugar
How do you name a glycosidic linkage?
- glucose (β/α) (1-4) glucose
- 1 is the anomeric carbon, the second number is the number of the c it is bonded to
What is lactose?
- galactose β(1 - 4) glucose
- disaccharide
What is lactase?
- β-galactosidase enzyme that cleaves β(1-4) linkage in lactose to break it down lactose
What is cellulose?
- 15,000 glucose units polymer
- glucose β(1 - 4) glucose
- hydrogen bonding network, strong water insoluble
- structural component of plants
What breaks down cellulose?
herbivores produce cellulases to break it down
What is chitin?
- structural polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of invertebrates
- glcNac β(1 - 4) glcNac
- GlcNAc = N-acetylglucosamine
What is GlcNAc?
N-acetylglucosamine
- hydroxyl group on carbon 2 is replaced with an amide
What is starch?
- polymer for glucose storage in plants
- α-amylose + amylopectin
- α-amylose - linear Glc - α(1-4) - Glc
- amylopectin - branched Glc - α(1-4) and α(1-6) - Glc
What is glycogen?
- polymer for glucose storage in plants
- similar to amylopectin, but with increased branching
- allows for faster degradation than a linear polymer
What are GAGs?
- glycosaminoglycans
- form a gel-like matrix in the extracellular space (eg around connective tissue)
- they create a really negatively charged network because it is sulfated
- Chondroitin - joint relief
- Heparin - inhibits blood coagulation
- made of Iduronic acid and GlcNAc
List some polysaccharides.
- lactose, cellulose, chitin, glycogen, starch, glycosaminoglycans
What are the 3 types of glycogonjugates?
- proteoglycans - mostly carbs
- peptidoglycans - mostly carbs
- glycoproteins - mostly proteins
What are proteoglycans?
- mostly glycans
- found in our extracellular matrix
- highly charged (have sulfated sugars often GAGs)
What are peptidoglycans?
- majority carbohydrates, found in bacterial cell wall
- they are what is stained in gram positive bacteria
What are gram positive/gram negative bacteria?
- Gram positive - bacterial cell wall has no outer membrane, peptidoglycans are stained in a gram stain
- Gram negative - bacterial cell wall has an inner and an outer membrane, with a thin layer of peptidoglycans in the middle, this layer is not stained in a gram stain
Describe the structure of peptidoglycans.
- GlcNAc β(1 - 4) MurNAc (N-acetyl Muraminic acid)
- repeats this disaccharide unit
- peptide is attached via amide linkage to the carboxyl off of 3’C of MurNAc
What process makes bacterial cell walls protective?
- peptide crosslinks of peptidoglycans
- peptide crosslinks prevent glycans from sliding across each other, this makes bacterial cell walls protective
What forms the glycopolymer in peptidoglycans?
transglycosylase
What forms peptide crosslinks in bacteria?
transpeptidase