Tutorial - Week 5 - Lipids & biomembranes Flashcards
Key concept: Understand the classification of lipids
Key concept: Become familiar with the structure and nomenclature of lipids
- Fatty acids (acyl chain + carboxylic group)
- Saturated vs unsaturated chains (no double bonds
vs double bonds) - Triacylglycerols (glycerol + 3 fatty acids)
- Waxes (long alcohol + long fatty acid)
- Phospholipids (glycerol + phosphate + polar group
+ 2 fatty acids) - Sphingolipids (sphingosine + 1 fatty acid (+ polar
group)) - Sterols (e.g. cholesterol)
Key concept: Gain knowledge on the major biological functions of lipids
- Energy storage
- Structural components of membranes
- Signaling
Key concept: Understand the structure and function of biomembranes
- Composition: Lipids + proteins
- Structure: fluid mosaic (i.e. lipid bilayers with proteins embedded
associated via non-covalent bonds) - Organisation: lipid asymmetry (across layers) and within layer
- Proteins associated with membranes: embedded, peripheral, or lipid-linked
What are lipids?
Lipids are molecules that are soluble in organic solvents:
- Insoluble in water (hydrophobic: ‘water phobia’)
- Do not form polymers (in contrast with other biomolecules)
- Possess different forms, properties and functions
What are the important biological functions that lipids have? (3 points)
- Energy storage (highly efficient form to store energy)
- Structural components of biological membranes (i.e. form barriers)
- Signaling (intra and extracellular, e.g. hormones, vitamins)
Name the three lipid functions and give examples within each:
- Energy Storage
* Fatty acids
* Triacylglycerols
* Waxes - Structure
* Phospholipids
* Sphingolipids
* Sterols
*Biomembranes
* Lipid bilayer organisation and properties
* Structure & function - Signaling
* Steroid hormones
* Eicosanoids
* Vitamins
What are fatty acids?
Fatty acids are carboxylic acids with hydrocarbon chains
Do fatty acids have an even or uneven number of carbons?
Normally have an even number of carbons (4 – 36 carbons)
What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids?
Saturated (all carbons are saturated, full hydrogenated, only single bonds, C-C)
Unsaturated (some carbons have double bonds, C=C)
* Monounsaturated (one double bond)
* Polyunsaturated (more than one double bond)
Name the type of fatty acid
Name the type of fatty acid
How are fatty acids named?
Named by the Number of C atoms : number of double bonds (position of double bonds)
- Carbons are numbered from the carboxyl (COOH) end
- ∆ is used to denote double bond
Name this fatty acid correctly
What is the storage lipid?
Triacylglycerol
Fatty acids normally exist as __________, known as _____________
derivatives
triacylglycerol
Esterified definition?
changed into an ester (= a chemical compound produced by a reaction between an acid and an alcohol, in which the hydrogen of the acid has been replaced by an alkyl group of atoms): Esterified oils produce less greasy donuts than liquid oils, but they are expensive and can have flavour issues.
Other names for triacylglycerol and what they are, structurally speaking?
Triacylglycerol (triglyceride, or just fat): glycerol esterified with 3 fatty acids
Label
What are Saturated Fats?
Triacylglycerols with saturated fatty acids (no double bonds)
What are Unsaturated Fats?
Triacylglycerols with unsaturated fatty acids (with double bonds)
If saturated, fatty acid tails are…? (Structure and interactions)
Example?
Straight and packed tightly (stronger
van der Waals interactions)
‘Hard fats’, like butter and other
mammalian fats are solid at room
temperature (not so healthy)
If unsaturated, fatty acid tails have…? (Structure and interactions/bonds)
Example?
Kinks and cannot pack tightly (weaker van der Waals interactions)
Oils obtained from plants and fish (e.g.
olive oil) are liquid at room temperature
(healthier than saturated
Label both
Double bonds in naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids are in which configuration and what is the structural result?
cis configuration and get a kink
Name the type of fatty acid, it’s state at room temperature, and why it has that state
Name the type of fatty acid, it’s state at room temperature, and why it has that state
Name the type of fatty acid, it’s state at room temperature, and why it has that state
Why did the food industry start to process vegetable oils? Why was it a necessity?
How do they process them/what process do they use?
Vegetable oils are normally liquid at room temp (not great to bake), and turn rancid when exposed to oxygen in the air (become rancid via cleavage of double bonds.
Hydrogenation is used to add H to the double bonds to convert some of the double bonds in single bonds)
Results in:
- Improve shelf life of vegetable oils
- More solid and more spreadable (e.g. cooking margarine)
- More resistant to high temperatures (e.g. blended oils used for deep-
frying)
What process turns unsaturated fats into saturated fats?
Hydrogenation
What are the storage lipids?
Waxes
Structure of waxes?
- long chain of saturated or
unsaturated fatty acids (C14 to C36) - long chain alcohol (C14 to C30)
- Linked by an ester bond
Function of waxes?
- Energy Storage (e.g. plankton)
- Water repellent (e.g. beeswax)
Name the molecule and the bond
What is the consistency of wax, melting point, and is it higher than those of TAGs (triacylglycerides)?
Firm consistency (Melting points (60-100 o C) higher than those of TAGs)
Beeswax is an ester of…?
Palmitic acid with alcohol triacontanol
What are the 3 structural lipids with roles in the biomembrane?
- Phospholipids (e.g. phosphatidylcholine)
- Sphingolipids (e.g. sphingomyelin)
- Sterols (e.g. cholesterol)
What are phospholipids also known as?
Are they the most abundant in cell membranes?
Are they hydrophobic or hydrophilic?
What does their structure contain?
Glycerophospholipids
Most abundant lipid in cell membranes
Amphipathic (polar and non-polar regions)(hydrophilic and hydrophobic)
Structure contains:
* Glycerol
* Phosphate often linked to a polar group (R)
* 2 fatty acids (linked via ester bond
I’m what ways does the head group in the phospholipid vary?
In size and charge