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Princeton : MCAT BIOLOGY > MCAT BIO : Chapter 3 / Biologically Important Molecules > Flashcards

MCAT BIO : Chapter 3 / Biologically Important Molecules Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 4 nitrogenous bases found in DNA?

A

Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, Cytosine

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2
Q

What are the 4 nitrogenous bases found in RNA?

A

Adenine, Guanine, Uracil, Cytosine

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3
Q

What stabilizes the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone?

A

Van der Waals Interactions

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4
Q

What is the bond that polymerizes nitrogenous bases together?

A

Hydrogen bonds (H-Bonds)

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5
Q

What are the components that comprises a nucleotide?

A

(1-3) Pyrophosphates, a purine/pyrimdine nitrogenous base, and ribose sugar

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6
Q

What is the bond between two orthophosphates?

A

Anhydride linkage

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7
Q

What do two orthophosphates comprise?

A

Pyrophosphates

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8
Q

What are the components that comprise amino acids?

A

Alpha-amino group, alpha-carboxyl group, tetrahedral alpha-carbon, and a variable R-group

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9
Q

What are the two bonds that are formed between amino acids?

A

Peptide bonds and disulfide bridges

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10
Q

What is a peptide bond?

A

A bond that links amino acids together

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11
Q

What is a disulfide bridge?

A

A bond that links cysteine R-groups

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12
Q

What are the three types of fats?

A

Triglycerides, Phospholipids, and Cholesterol

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13
Q

What type of reaction does amino acids undergo?

A

Condensation reaction

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14
Q

What type of reaction does nucleotides undergo?

A

Polymerization

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15
Q

What type of bond is formed in the formation of triglycerides?

A

Ester bonds

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16
Q

What are the components that comprise a phospholipid?

A

A polar head group and two nonpolar tails

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17
Q

What is the pattern for the polypeptide backbone?

A

N-C-C-N-C-C

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18
Q

What is the term for an individual amino acid in a polypeptide chain?

A

Residue

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19
Q

What is the first end made during polypeptide synthesis?

A

Amino (N) - Terminus

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20
Q

What is the last end made during polypeptide synthesis?

A

Carboxyl (C) - Terminus

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21
Q

When a protein undergoes hydrolysis by another protein, what is this called?

A

Proteolysis or Proteolytic Cleavage

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22
Q

What is the enzyme that cuts out individual amino acids in a polypeptide chain?

A

Proteolytic enzyme or Protease

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23
Q

Proteolytic cleaving is specific to individual amino acids. (T/F)

A

True; Each amino acid has their own protease

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24
Q

Why is amino acid “cysteine” reactive?

A

Cysteine contains a thiol (R-SH) functional group

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25
Q

How is the disulfide bond created?

A

One cysteine will react with another cysteine residue and due to their reactive thiol groups. They will create a covalent bond through S-S

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26
Q

Disulfide bonds can ONLY be found in the same polypeptide chains (T/F)

A

False; disulfide bonds can be found in the same AND different polypeptide chains

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27
Q

When two cysteine residues bond, what are they referred to as?

A

Cystine

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28
Q

What are the structures of proteins in 3D?

A

Primary (1)
Secondary(2)
Tertiary(3)
Quaternary(4)

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29
Q

What factors can denature proteins?

A

Urea, Extremes of pH, Extremes of temperature, and changes in salt concentration

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30
Q

What is a “denatured” protein?

A

When the structure of a protein is improperly folded and has become non-functional

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31
Q

What is the Primary (1) structure dependent on for proteins?

A

Peptide bonds; the polypeptide will be in a linear order of amino acids

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32
Q

What is the Secondary (2) structure dependent on for proteins?

A

Hydrogens bonds that stabilize the backbone between alpha-amino groups and alpha-carboxyl groups

Alpha-helices and Beta-pleaded sheets are found in this structure.

This is the initial folding of proteins

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33
Q

What are the two types of Beta-pleaded sheets?

A

Parallel: adjacent amino acid strands running in the same direction
Antiparallel: amino acid strands running in the opposite direction

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34
Q

What is the Tertiary (3) structure dependent on for proteins?

A

Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic interactions

This focuses on the concerns between amino acid residues

35
Q

Why does hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions occur in the Tertiary (3) structure?

A

As Alpha-helices go into a higher order, R-groups start to interact with each other and water

36
Q

What is the nature of hydrophobic groups?

A

Folding on the interior away from the solvent

37
Q

What is the nature of hydrophilic groups?

A

Exposing themselves to the solvent on the surface

38
Q

What is the Quaternary (4) structure dependent on for proteins?

A

Van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, electrostatic interactions

Describes the interactions between polypeptide’s subunits

39
Q

What is a subunit?

A

A single polypeptide that is part of a large complex found in the Quaternary (4) structure of proteins

40
Q

What do you call a single carbohydrate? Two carbohydrates? Many carbohydrates?

A

Monosaccharide / Disaccharide / Polysaccharide

41
Q

What is the bond between two monosaccharides?

A

Glycosidic linkage

42
Q

What are the two glycosidic linkages?

A

Alpha-glycosidic linkage and Beta-glycosidic linkage

43
Q

Which glycosidic linkage is more stable, alpha or beta?

A

Beta - glycosidic linkage

44
Q

How can carbohydrates be broken down into CO2?

A

Oxidation by combustion reactions

45
Q

What do carbohydrates serve as?

A

Principle energy for cellular metabolism

46
Q

Why are triglycerides important?

A

They store energy in adipose cells

47
Q

Why are phospholipids important?

A

A constitutional barrier between the extra cellular and intracellular space for cellular membranes

48
Q

Why is cholesterol important?

A

Special lipid that serves as the building blocks for hydrophobic steroid hormones

49
Q

What are lipids dependent on?

A

Hydrophobicity

50
Q

What is the synonym of hydrophobic?

A

Lipophilic

51
Q

What is the synonym of hydrophilic?

A

Lipophobic

52
Q

What does the fatty acid structures look like?

A

Long, unsubstituted alkanes that end in a carboxylic acid and typically 14-18 carbons long

53
Q

Only odd numbers of fatty acids are found in human cells (T/F)

A

False; even numbers of fatty acids

54
Q

What is the term for fatty acids with no double bond?

A

Saturated

55
Q

What is the term for fatty acids with one or more double bonds?

A

Unsaturated

56
Q

What configuration are unsaturated fats found in?

A

Cigs or “Z” configuration

57
Q

What is the structure called when free fatty acids interact in an aqueous solution?

A

Micelle

58
Q

When unsaturated fats are bent at the double bond, what is the other term for bent?

A

Kinked

59
Q

What is the storage form of fatty acids?

A

Triglycerol

60
Q

What are the components that comprises triglycerides?

A

Three fatty acids and glycerol

61
Q

How does the ester bonds solidify their connection between glycerol and the fatty acids?

A

The 3 hydroxyl groups are esterfied on glycerol to the fatty acids

62
Q

What is the enzyme that catalyzes fats?

A

Lipases

63
Q

What are better sources of energy, carbohydrates or fats?

A

Fats; in terms of packing and energy content

64
Q

How is the phospholipid bilayer formed?

A

Hydrophobic interactions, then stabilized by van der Waals interactions

65
Q

How does unsaturation affect membrane fluidity?

A

It will increase the fluidity; this is due to the prevention of the membrane from solidifying and decreases the length of fatty acid tails

66
Q

How does cholesterol play a role in the membrane?

A

It is a modulator for fluidity

67
Q

In low temperatures, how does cholesterol affect fluidity?

A

The fluidity increases via membrane antifreeze

68
Q

In high temperatures, how does cholesterol affect fluidity?

A

Fluidity decreases

69
Q

What are the determinants of membrane fluidity?

A

Degree of saturation, tail of length, amount of cholesterol

70
Q

What is a terpene?

A

Built from isoprene units (C5H8)n

71
Q

What conformations can terpenes be classified under?

A

Linear or cyclic

72
Q

What are the components that comprises steroids?

A

Tetracyclic ring system based off of cholesterol

73
Q

Examples of steroid hormones

A

Testosterone and Estradiol

74
Q

What is testosterone?

A

It is a male sex hormone: androgen

75
Q

What is estradiol?

A

It is a female sex hormone: estrogen

76
Q

Where is cholesterol synthesized?

A

In the liver

77
Q

Where can cholesterol be found?

A

In the blood; packaged with fats and proteins into lipoproteins

78
Q

What is the bond for two nucleotides that are bound together?

A

Phosphodiester bond

79
Q

Why do pyrophosphate anhydride linkages store so much energy?

A

The negative charges repel each other very strongly, the linked orthophosphates have higher free energy, and pyrophosphates don’t have as favorable interactions with biological solvents

80
Q

What does nATP stand for?

A

Nucleotide adenosine triphosphate

81
Q

Why is ATP so important?

A

ATP plays a central role in cellular metabolism and a RNA precursor

82
Q

How is ATP extracted from food?

A

The energy is oxidized and immediately stored into phosphoanhydride bonds

83
Q

What energy molecule is used to synthesize fats and glucose?

A

ATP

84
Q

Viruses can’t make their own ATP (T/F)

A

True; bacteria to humans can make their own

Princeton : MCAT BIOLOGY (2 decks)

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