Topic 2 Biomolecules Flashcards
Covalent Bonds
-strongest bond, sharted e- pairs
Van Der Waal’s Interactions
- lots of low energy interactions
- interactions between molecules with temporary charges
- peaks at van der waals contact distance
Hydrogen Bonding in Water
- can form max 4 bonds (ice) but avg. 3.4 bonds with other water molecules; these constantly changing bonds are called flickering clusters (high entropy)
- high specific heat, requires high input to raise temperature
- high heat of vapourization
- water will form highly ordered cages around hydrophobic alkyl chains
residues
monomers of a polymer
- ie. amino acids in protiens
native conformation
lowest energy state (lowest gibbs free energy) of a protien
amino acid
- properties determined by R group
-NH3(+)C(alpha)HCOO(-)R - alpha carbon is potential stereocentre
-l-isomer (NH3 is on left) is the only form found in protiens produced by ribosomes
-
Nonpolar amino acids (hydrophobic)
glycine gly g
alanine ala a
valine val v
leucine leu l
isoleucine ile i
methioine met m
phenylaine phe f
tryptophan trp w
proline pro p
Polar, uncharged amino acid (hydrophilic)
serine ser s
threonine thr t
cysteine cys c
asparagine asp n
glutamine gln q
tyrosine tyr y
polar, charged amino acids (hydrophilic)
aspartate asp d
glutamate glu e
lysine lys k
arginine arg r
histidine his h
peptide bond
c(-)-n(+) bond joined covalently in dehydration rxn (carboxyl and amine group react, water is released)
- linear, unbranched chain (polar)
- very stable (half life about 7 years)
- n terminus is amine (+ charge) and c-terminous is carboxyl group (- charged)
Primary Structure
includes all covalent bonds; defined by amino acid sequence (linear, unbranched)
- has a distinct amino (n) terminus and carboxyl (c) terminus
Secondary Structure
regular, repeating structure adopted by single polypeptide due to hydrogen bonds
- alpha helix: carbonyl oxygen bonds to an amino terminus hydrogen four monomers away
OR
- beta-pleated sheet: requires at least 2 beta-strands (antiparallel or parallel) with interactions between NH and CO groups in adjacent polypeptide regions
- bonds involved: hydrogen, between N and C terminuses in the backbone
Tertiary Structure
Three-dimensional folding of a single polypeptide chain;
- bonds involved (nearly all) : disuphide bonds, hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, van der waals interactions, hydrophobic interactions
-ie. tobacco mosaic virus coat protien (mostly a); hexokinase (a and b); immunoglobin (mostly b)
Quaternary Structure
Association of multiple polypeptides to form a multimeric protein;
- bonds involved (nearly all) : disuphide bonds, hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, van der waals interactions, hydrophobic interactions
van der waals contact distance
the distance between atoms at which the force becomes repulsive rather than attractive as the atoms approach one another
- potential energy of system at this point is lowest, so molecules are at their most stable
protien functions
• catalytic rxns of enzymes
• motility / movement
• transport of substances
• receptors / cell signalling
• storage of amino acids
• structural support
• regulatory proteins
• hormonal (metabolic ctrl)
• defense (antibodies)
Denaturation/Renaturation Expiriment (Anfinsen)
- all that is needed to determine the 3-dimensional structure of a ribonuclease polypeptide was the primary structure
- Denaturing:
- folded polypeptide exposed to denaturing conditions (heating), disrupting noncovalent interactions between amino acid r-groups causing it to have no fixed shape or enzymatic activity - Renaturing:
- renaturing conditions (cooling) allowed renewed interactions between amino acid r-groups; polypeptide returned spontaneously to its native conformation and enzymatic activity
Afinsen’s Dogma
All the information needed to determine the 3-dimensional structure of the protein was in the primary structure!
Chaperone System
a group of proteins that have functional similarity and assist in protein folding
- very tightly folded, will not unfold under heat-shock conditions; system upregulates chaperone production when experiences increased heat
- energy-dependant
Ubiquitin
small protein chain containing 76 amino acids
- “ubiquitous” among organisms
- can form chains (form an isopeptide bond with itself)
Ubiquitination
A form of post-translational modification in which the ubiquitin-protein is attached to a substrate protein.
Three-step/enzyme process:
ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1): ubiquitin is activated by attatching to E1 via ATP
ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2): ubq. is transferred to E2
ubiquitin-protein ligase (E3): E2 ubq. is linked via E3 to a lysine residue in a target protien; E2 and E3 detatch. additional ubq. molecules are added, forming small chains
The chains then serve as target signals to be recognized by protien-degredating/amino-acid liberating proteasomes
Vitamins and Minerals
enzyme co-factors; cannot produce all required, so must recieve them through diet and microbes
- some enzymes will also require metals to function
Vitamin K
carboxyglutamate localizes factors to the wound via interactions with calcium
- warfarin (rat poison) and dicoumarol (blood thinner) inhibit this, decreasing clotting
Mg2+
Required for DNA and RNA.
Nucleic Acids as Carriers of Chemical Energy (function)
- ATP: a nucleotide trisphosphate; hydrolysis of the phosphoanhydride bonds in ATP is a universal mechanism for releasing the energy required by many catalyzed reactions
- CoA: common carrier of 2-carbon groups
- NADH & NADPH: common electron carriers
Nucleic Acids as Modes of Informational Storage and Retrieval (functions)
The linear sequence of nucleotides in polynucleotides dictates the primary structure of proteins, performs many roles in its own expression, & also encodes many nonprotien products.
-central dogma of biology
Nucleotide Compostion
Nucleotides: nucleic acid molecules
- nitrogenous base
- pentose (5C sugar)
- 1+ phosphate groups (PO4-2)
- nucleosides are NOT nucleic acids (lack an acidic phosphate group)
Proteosome
a protein complex in cells containing proteases; it breaks down proteins that have been tagged by ubiquitin.
5” position
addition of a phosphate group on C5 of the pentose (counting clockwise from top oxygen)
Polynucleotides
made up of nucleotides covalently linked by phosphodiester bonds (5’ to 3’ carbons of ribose)
- single (ss) (ie. ssDNA or ssRNA) or double (ds) stranded (ie. dsDNA or dsRNA)
Nucleotide Sugars
purines
purines
adenine (A)
guanine (G)
pyrimidines
thymine (T)
uracil (U)
- T has methane group, U has H
- cytosine (C)
Chargaff’s Rules
A=T
G=C
Stacking Interactions
Bases (or base pairs) are planar, and these planes stack at contact distance (about 3.4 Angstrom), excluding water and maximizing Van der Waals interactions.
minor/major groove
areas where the nitrogenous bases in DNA are exposed
A/B/Z DNA
B: standard dna shape
A: major and minor grooves roughly same size, molecule looks thicker
Z: major and minor grooves roughly same size, molecule looks skinnier
downstream (DNA)
5’ to 3’, direction of transcription
DNA Transcription Regulation
- activators (bind to sequence of DNA called promoter) and inhibitors (protiens) determine where rna polymerase begins and ends transcribing
Exogenous Addition of GFP
GFP is inserted into a reporter gene on the end of a gene of interest, not affecting the protien production output of the gene onto which it is attatched but being produced in equal quantites
- usually extrachromosomal