Ch. 2.3 Life Substances Flashcards
**What is a protein?
A large, complex polymer composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sometimes suffer which allows protein to bend.
**What is a monomer?
A component of a protein, called amino acids composed of a central atom attached to a carbon group (-COOH), a hydrogen atom, an amino group, and a variable group-R.
**How are amino acids linked together?
Peptide bonds.
**How many amino acids are they for all proteins?
20
What determines the function of a protein?
The order of the amino acids determine its function.
**What is the function of a protein?
Proteins catalyze metabolic reactions.
Many proteins are __________ which catalyze metabolic reactions in living organisms.
Enzymes.
What does lactase do?
Lactase is an enzyme which digests lactose (milk sugar), some people lack this enzyme, and cannot digest lactose, which is found in dairy products.
What do proteins act as?
Chemical messengers.
What are peptide hormones?
They are chemical messengers composed of proteins that send chemical messages throughout the body.
What is insulin?
A peptide hormone that regulates blood sugar.
What do proteins make up?
Structural components found in living things. E.g., keratin is the key structural component of hair and nails; slogan and elastin are two proteins founding connective tissue (bones, muscle, skin)
**What is a nucleic acid?
A complex biomolecule that stores cellular information in the form of a code.
**What are monomers?
Components of a nucleic acid called nucleotides. Have C, H, O, N, P) Subunit of a molecule.
**What makes up a nucleotide?
Sugar, phosphate molecule and 4 nitrogeneous bases.
