Midterm Flashcards
What are macromolecules composed of? Give some examples
Composed of monomeric subunits
Eg. Protein -> amino acids
DNA -> deoxynucleotides
What is dynamic steady state?
When the rate of appearance of a cellular component is exactly matched to its rate of disappearance
Define isolated, closed, and open system
Isolated: organism exchanges neither energy nor matter with the environment
Closed: organism exchanges energy, but not matter with the environment
Open: organism exchanges both energy and matter with its surroundings
Define anabolic and catabolic pathways
Anabolic: requires input of energy (synthesis)
Catabolic: release energy (degradation)
Describe prokaryotic cells
Lack cell membranes
Unicellular
No nucleus or suncellular organelles
Cell wall
Describe eukaryotic cells
High organized system of membranes
Multicellular with nucleus
Contain organelles
What are the bulk elements of cells?
Oxygen = 65% Carbon = 18% Hydrogen = 10% Nitrogen = 3%
What are the major elements in the cell that are cations?
Account for 4%
Calcium - framework
Sodium - animal extracellular fluid, membrane integrity, nerve impulse activity
Potassium - irremplaçable intracellular cation, membrane integrity, nerve impulse activity
Magnesium - associated with bone structure, membrane integrity
What are the major elements of the cells that are anions?
Phosphorus:
1. Organophosphate - compounds which contain oxidized phosphate radical, nucleic acids, phospholipids, energy metabolism
2. Inorganic phosphate - animal skeletons, major intracellular anion in animal cells
Chloride - major extra cellular anion
Sulphur - sulphites
What are the minor elements present in cells?
Iron - hemoglobin and cytochromes
Iodine - thyroid hormone
What are the trace elements in cells?
Copper, zinc, magnésium, Mo
Very specific activities in the cell
Activators of specific enzyme systems
Name and rate the bond types in terms of strength from highest to lowest.
Covalent Ionic Dipole-dipole Hydrogen Charge transfer Hydrophobic Vander waals
What are some of the biological properties of water?
- Transport medium: intake of nutrients, excretion of toxic waste
- High solubility capacity
- Temperature regulator
- Structural component
What is the dielectric nature of water?
Dipole nature permits electrostatic interactions between ions
Build up of water sheath will lead to prevention of interaction between oppositely charged particles (solvation sphere)
Dielectric constant is very high
What are the consequences of higher dielectric nature?
- High solubilisation capacity towards ionic compounds
2. High solubility towards polar compounds
What is a colloid?
A state of matter typified by large molecules
What are hemotherms?
Organisms that maintains its body temperature at a constant level, usually above that of the environment, by its metabolic activity
Water hydrogen bonds with proteins and is prevented from becoming ice
What are some dynamic properties of water?
- High specific heat of capacity
- energy going into covalent bonds - High heat of vaporization
- Hydrogen bonding between water molecules and polar compounds leads to segregation of any non-polar compounds interacting via a polar forces
- Maximum density = 4C
What are amphiphilic molecules?
Neither polar nor non polar
Form micelles in solution
Micelles repel one another due to negatively charged surfaces and thereby maintain relative stability in solution
Describe a buffer system
- Weak acid
- buffers OH- which increases the pH with the addition of OH-
- as H2O and A- goes up, HA goes down
- produces water and therefore there is no change in pH
- you can keep pulling out H+ until HA is exhausted - Salt of weak acid
- buffers H+
- conjugate base component
What is buffer capacity?
Total capacity to buffer on a quantitative basis against the addition of H+ and OH-
A system has a buffering capacity of 1 when the addition if 1g/mol of H+ or OH- produces a unit change of pH
Describe traits of very weak acids in biological systems
- Have very small dissociation
2. [undissociated acids] = [weak acids]
What is buffer efficiency?
Buffer should be able to buffer in either direction
Maximum buffer efficiency should be able to buffer [OH-] as equally well as [H+]
In general, buffer over a range of +- 1 pH of a pK value
What is pK?
A measure of a systems capacity to yield H+
What is the Henderson-hasselbach equation?
pH = pK + log[A]/[HA]
What are some examples of buffer systems?
HCO-/H2CO3 = biocarbonate system (pK = 6.1)
HPO4-2/H2PO4 = phosphate system
Protein-/H+protein (pK = 6-7)
HbO2-/HbO2H = oxyhemoglobin system (pK = 6.6)
Hb-/HbH = hemoglobin system (pK = 8.2)
Does the bicarbonate system have any buffering capacity at all?
Acids interact with bases to nullify increase in pH
pK = 6.1 but actual pH of cell is 7.2
Difference is approximately 1 pH therefore there is 10X more conjugate base is present
[A]/[HA] = 10/1
Poor buffering capacity: conjugate acid will buffer against addition of OH but not H
What are some colligative properties?
Diffusion
Osmosis
Describe diffusion
Passage of particles from high concentration to low concentration
Complicated by the presence of cell membrane
- size of particle vs membrane permeability: different colligative properties in the inside and outside
- lipophilic nature of membrane facilitates passage of non-polar lipid like molecules
- polar charged molecules will not diffuse readily: membrane carries a positive charge which repels the molecule or membrane carries a negative charge which binds the molecule
PH interferes with the passage of polar molecules
How can you change the ability of a membrane to allow charged molecules to pass?
Changing the charge in the membrane by changing the pH
Describe osmosis
Diffusion of water molecules
What is osmotic pressure?
Reflects the # of particles in solution
Pressure must be applied to a solution separated by a semipermeable membrane from water in order to prevent a volume change in solution
What are the three types of movement of water?
- Plasmolysis: less water in extracullular fluid than in intracellular fluid so water flows out of the cell
- Plasmoptysis: more water in extracellular fluid than intracellular fluid so water flows into the cell
- Water balance: water in extra cellular fluid = water in intracellular fluid
What are the to phases of the colloid state?
1) discontinuous dispersed phase (like solute)
2) continuous dispersion medium (like solvent)
What is emulsion?
Liquid dispersed in a liquid
What are the different classifications of size of solid molecules?
- Solute when dispersed in a solution: 1x10^-9 m or less
- Colloid state: 1x10^-9 m to 1x10^-7 m
- Suspension or precipitate: 1x10^-7 m or more
What is needs for stabilization of the colloid state to prevent aggregation and precipitation?
- Presence of electric change - mutual repulsion
- Degree of interaction with water:
- hydriphilic colloid = more stable
- hydrophobic colloid = less stable
What does neutralization do to colloid state?
Interference of colloid stabilizing factors could lead to distraction
What is the colloid state associated with?
- Large molecules: large molecule mass eg. Proteins
- Aggregates of smaller molecular mass: interacts with one another (h-bonds), exist not in solution but in colloid state
What are colligative properties?
The influence of the solute on the solvent
Alteration of solvent properties
Governed by number of particles in solution and not by their chemistry
What are some colligative properties?
Freezing point depression
Boiling point elevation
Lowering of vapor pressure
Osmotic pressure effects
What is colloid state?
Composed it a dispersion phase and a dispersion medium
Macromolecules have charge and thus repel each other, staying in solution
Properties are conferred by the solutés and not the solvent of the solution
What are proteins?
Compounds containing C,H,O,N, and usually some S of high molecular weight and are composed largely or entirely of amino acids joined via peptide bonds
What is a peptide linkage?
Bond formed on the removal of water resulting in a covalent bond formed between a carboxyl and an amino group
Forms between amino and carboxyl ends of amino acids, releasing a water molecule
What are some general properties of proteins?
- No group solubility: no one solvent that will extract all proteins, some exist in colloid state
- Many proteins exist in the colloid state in the cell and will have properties of the colloid state
What are the biological properties of proteins?
- Major cellular component: level of protein standard for cell type
- Protein itself is not a dietary component
- Not a primary energy reserve
- Structure and organization
- Locomotion
- Défense
- Transmission of hereditary factors
- Mediators of biological reactions
- Regulators of certain biochemical reactions
- Respiration
Are amino acids L or D?
Most belong to L
Organism can us D amino acids but does so in abnormal fashion, usually resulting in death
Describe optical isomers
Process the same general properties with the exception of the ability to rotate planar polarized light
In what order do we loose proteins as pH rises?
1) loose protons from COOH first
2) loose protons from NH3+ second
What are the non polar amino acids?
Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, Île, Met, Cys, Phe, Trp, Pro
What are the uncharged polar amino acids?
Ser, Thr, Try, Asn, Gln
What are the negatively charged polar amino acids?
Asp, Glu
What are the polar amino acids with definite positive charge?
Arg, Lys
What is the polar amino acid with fractional positive charge?
Imidazole group of histidine
Describe high preformance liquid chromatography
Separates amino acids according to size, charge, and hydrophobicity
High pressures reduce diffusion of proteins in column and improve resolution
Stationary phase and mobile phase
Describe ion exchange chromatography
Separates proteins according to charge
Takes ions out of solution and holds them to resin
Wash proteins off by changing salt concentration
What is the difference between anion exchangers and cation exchangers in ion exchange chromatography?
Anion exchangers: have bound positive groups (bind - charged proteins)
Cation exchangers: have bound negative groups (bind + charged proteins)
Describe gel filtration (size exclusion) chromatography
Separates proteins according to molecular weight
Small proteins associate with beads more (move into pores) while large proteins move around them
Describe affinity chromotography
Separates proteins according to their affinity for a ligand
Ligand is covalently attached to a solid matrix
Binding of protein depends upon the affinity for the bound ligand and the capacity of the bead
Elution of protein by changing conditions or excess of free ligand
What is two dimensional gel electrophoresis?
Proteins separated first by charge then by molecular weight
Describe nanotechnology
Requires the binding of biomacromolecules to solid surfaces
Take advantage of crosslinkers that can make covalent bonds with amine, sulfhydryl, aldehyde, and carboxylate containing molecules
Spacer arms (long chains of carbon atoms) may be cleanable or non-cleavable
Describe SDS-PAGE
Seperation according to size
Matrix formed of acrylamide monomers and bisacrylamide crosslinkers
Proteins run through a discontinuous pore size and pH
Proteins saturated with SDS move towards the positive electrode
What are the acidic amino acids?
Asp, Glu
What are the basic amino acids?
His, Lys, Arg
What are large positive hydropathic indexes indicative of?
Regions of protein with large positive hydropathic index are indicative of hydrophobic regions and are likely buried in the centre of the globular proteins
What is the ISO electric point?
pH at which the charge is 0
What are post-translation modifications?
A nascent polypeptide is often covalently modified before it achieves its nature form
Some are reversible
What are some examples of post-translational modification?
Protéolytic cleavage Hydroxylation Methylation Acetylation Phosphorylation Sulfation Carboxylation Formylation Glycosylation Acylation Prenylation Uniquitunation Disulfide bond formation/ breakage Some very specific modifications
What is a peptide?
Amino acid residues joined via peptide linkage
What is an oligopeptide?
2 to 10 residues
What are the nomenclature rules for polypeptides?
1) read from left to right
2) amino acids residues use the short form eg. Glycyl for glycine
3) use full name for c-terminal amino acid
What are major and minor peptides?
Major: proteins
Minor: by themselves with specific biological activity
Under what conditions do you get cleavage of the peptide bond?
- Acid hydrolysis
- Base hydrolysis
- Cyanogen bromide
- Hydrazine
- Enzyme hydrolysis
Describe enzyme hydrolysis
Operates under mild conditions
Peptidases and proteases show specificity for certain peptide bonds