the patient Flashcards
what are two uses of triaglycerols
they are efficient for energy storage
Fatty acids are stored as triaglycerols or fats
what are glycerophospholipids?
they are naturally occurring phospholipids, with very polar head groups. One hydroxyl is turned into a fatty acid Ester. There are variable R groups on the C2 carbon
what is the structure of glycerophospholipids
they don’t form micelles and they prefer to form bilayers
fatty acids form micelles
what is cholesterol
it is a member of the steroid group. They are weekly amphipathic. They are in a fused ring system. It is a relatively flat component of many animal membranes.
The influence membrane fluidity
polar end is the hydroxyl group in the A ring
it anchors itself into the bilayer by forming two H bonds with the phospholipids
what are nucleic acids
Polymeric molecules built from nucleotides
How are nucleotides connected?
By a phosphodiester linkage
What is the Watson and crick model?
where the sugar phosphate, backbone and DNA strands are anti-parallel. This provides stability to the DNA. Hydrogen bonds pair bases together and the DNA is super coiled leaving it compact.
Describe denaturing of proteins
The primary structure is left intact
Enzymes lose their catalytic activity
Most denaturing is irreversible, but renaturation is accompanied by the recovery of biological activity
What are lipids?
Small molecules that have a strong tendency to associate through noncovalent forces
They have a polar hydrophilic head
They have a hydrophobic tail [hydrocarbon.]
in water the tails associate via entropy driven hydrophobic affect
A second stabilizing effect arises from vanderwaals interactions between the hydrogen carbon regions
Why do straight chain hydrocarbons have a higher melting point
they can pack together easily, and they make a good solids
There are more points of interaction with adjacent molecules and more energy is needed to break these apart
what is a triaglycerol
A glycerol with three fatty acids esterified onto the glycerol
They are much less polar then fatty acids
They don’t fall micelles, efficiently
They are water insoluble
They form as oil droplets in the cytoplasm
What is an alpha carbon?
The central carbon atom in an amino acid
what’s an ogliopeptide
hundreds of amino acids
A protein basically
How do you draw an amino acid?
The amiee group is always on the left-hand side
eg val-cys
What is the primary structure?
carbon and nitrogen atoms along the backbone line in a zigzag arrangement. It is the amino acids all lined up.
What is the secondary structure?
The amide group -CO-NH- is both a hydrogen doughnut and a hydrogen bond acceptor
Alpha helix- the side chains point out, the hydrogen bonds are distant
beta pleated sheet – oh antiparallel, and the carboxyl ends and amino ends alternate.
What is the tertiary structure?
Folding results in maximum stability
What is a native protein?
A protein with the shape in which its functions in living systems
What is a simple protein
Composed of only amino acid residues
What is the quaternary structure?
where two proteins form a large ordered structure
What is negative regulation
A repressor/inhibitor binds to the promoter and competes with RNA polymerase
What is positive regulation
an activator protein binds to a weak promoter, and helps RNA polymerase to bind and transcribe
What is an operon?
A group of genes, or a segment of DNA that functions as a single transcription unit. It is comprised of an operator, a promoter, and two or more genes that are transcribed into one polycistronic mRNA.
