Lecture 3 (Macromolecules) Flashcards
What is a macromolecule?
Very large molecules built by polymerisation of building blocks
What are the 5 macromolecules?
Proteins DNA RNA complex carbohydrates lipids
What are the 4 building blocks of cells?
Amino acids
Nucleobases
Simple carbohydrates
Lipids
What are the 4 ‘levels’ of carbohydrates?
Monosaccharides
Disaccharides
Oligosaccharides
Polysaccharides
Example of a monosaccharide
Hexose, Pentose
How to you build a disaccharide?
Combine two monosaccharides together
What are some examples of plant/animal carbohydrates ?
Plants: Starch, Cellulose
Animals: Glycogen
What are the two different structures of starch that can exist?
Amylopectin - Branched
Amylose - Linear
Functions of Carbohydrates
Recognition
Structure
Energy
How is energy stored in the form of a carbohydrate in animals and plants?
Plants: starch
Animals: Glycogen
Are lipids polymers?
No, they are all individual molecules
Properties of Lipids
Individual molecules
Hydrophobic
Functions of Lipids
Structural in Cholesterol and Phospholipids
Regulatory - testosterone, estradiol
Energy - triacyglycerol
What is the purpose for Nucleic Acids?
They act as information carrying molecules
What are the components makes up a nucleic acid?
Phosphate group
Ribose/deoxyribose sugar
Base
What are nucleic acids?
Polymers of nucleotides
What is the purpose of Proteins?
They are the molecules by which cells perform their functions.
How do the different amino acids differ?
They differ by the side ‘r’ groups.
Functions of Proteins
Structural support
Transport
Immune
Cell responses
What are the two regulatory lipids derived from cholesterol?
Testosterone
Estradiol
What is the difference between an RNA and DNA nucleotide?
They differ by the sugar group. Ribose for RNA and deoxyribose for DNA.
How to DNA and RNA polymer structures differ?
One is one stranded and the other is double stranded, with a double helix.
