STRUCTURES

STRUCTURES AND
AND
FUNCTIONS
FUNCTIONS OF
OF
BIOLOGICAL
BIOLOGICAL
MOLECULES
MOLECULES

PRESENTED BY GROUP 6 STEM

 FOUR CLASSES OF BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES
All living things are made up of four large biological molecules:
•Carbohydrates
•Lipids
•Protein
•Nucleic Acids
Macromolecules are large molecules composed of thousands of
covalently bonded atoms.

Molecular structure and function are inseperable.

Macromolecules are polymers built from monomers.

A polymer is a long molecule containing of many similar building

blocks.

These small building block molecules are called monomers.

Three of the four classes of life's organic molecules are

polymers: carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids.
 THE SYNTHESIS AND BREAKDOWN OF POLYMERS
A dehydration reaction occurs when two
monomers bond together through the
loss of a water molecule.

Polymers are dissambled to monmers by

hydrolysis, a reaction that is essentially
the reverse of the dehydration reaction.
DEHYDRATION SYNTHESIS
HYDROLYSIS
 THE DIVERSITY OF POLYMERS
Each cell has thousands of different macromolecules.

Macromolecules vary among cells of an organism, vary more

within a species, and vary even more between the species.

An immense variety of polymers can be built from a small set

of monomers.
 CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates include sugars and the polymers of sugars.

The simplest carbohydrates are monosaccharides, or single

sugars.

Carbohydrate macromolecules are polysaccharides,

polymers composed of many sugar building blocks.
SUGARS: MONOSACCHARIDES
Monosaccharides have molecular
formulas that are usually multiples of
CH2O.
Glucose (C6H12O6) is the most common
monosaccharide.
Monosaccharides are classified by:
–The location of the carbonyl group
–The number of carbons in the
carbon skeleton
SUGARS: DISACCHARIDES
A disaccharide is formed when a dehydration reaction joins
two monosaccharides.

This covalent bond is called a glycosidic linkage.

SUGARS: POLYSACCHARIDES
Polysaccharides, the polymers of sugars, have storage and
structural roles.

The structure and function of a polysaccharide are determined

by its sugar monomers and the positions of glycosidic linkages
TYPES OF POLYSACCHARIDES: STORAGE
Starch, a storage polysaccharide
of plants, consists entirely of
glucose monomers.
Plants store surplus starch as
granules within chloroplasts and
other plastids .
The simplest form of starch is
amylose.
TYPES OF POLYSACCHARIDES: STORAGE

Glycogen is a storage
polysaccharide in animals

Humans and other vertebrates

store glycogen mainly in liver and
muscle cells.
TYPES OF POLYSACCHARIDES: STRUCTURAL

The polysaccharide cellulose is a major component of the

tough wall of plant cells
Like starch, cellulose is a polymer of glucose, but the
glycosidic linkages differ.
The difference is based on two ring forms for glucose:
alpha (a) and beta (b).
 POLYSACCHARIDE
RANDOM ACTS OF BIOLOGY
Cellulose in human food passes through the digestive tract as
insoluble fiber.
Some microbes use enzymes to digest cellulose.
Many herbivores, from cows to termites, have symbiotic
relationships with these microbes.
Chitin, another structural polysaccharide, is found in the
exoskeleton of arthropods.
Chitin also provides structural support for the cell walls of many
fungi.
 LIPIDS
Lipids are the one class of large biological molecules that do not
form polymers.
The unifying feature of lipids is having little or no affinity for
water.
Lipids are hydrophobic because they consist mostly of
hydrocarbons, which form nonpolar covalent bonds.
The most biologically important lipids are fats, phospholipids,
and steroids.
FATS
Fats are constructed from two types of smaller molecules:
glycerol and fatty acids.

Glycerol is a three-carbon alcohol with a hydroxyl group

attached to each carbon.

A fatty acid consists of a carboxyl group attached to a long

carbon skeleton.
 Fatty acid (in this case, palmitic acid)

Glycerol
a) Oneof three dehydration reactions in the synthesis of a
fat
Ester linkage

b) Fat molecule (triacylglycerol)

 Fatty acid (in this case, palmitic acid)

Glycerol
a) Oneof three dehydration reactions in the synthesis of a fat
Fats separate from water because water molecules form
hydrogen bonds with each other and exclude the fats

In a fat, three fatty acids are joined to glycerol by an ester

linkage, creating a triacylglycerol, or triglyceride
Ester linkage

b) Fat molecule (triacylglycerol)

Fatty acids vary in length (number of carbons) and in the
number and locations of double bonds.

Saturated fatty acids have the maximum number of hydrogen

atoms possible and no double bonds.

Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more double bonds.

A diet rich in saturated fats may contribute to cardiovascular
disease through plaque deposits.

Hydrogenation is the process of converting unsaturated fats to

saturated fats by adding hydrogen.

Hydrogenating vegetable oils also creates unsaturated fats

with trans double bonds

These trans fats may contribute more than saturated fats to

cardiovascular disease.
Certain unsaturated fatty acids are not synthesized in the
human body.

These must be supplied in the diet.

These essential fatty acids include the omega-3 fatty acids,

required for normal growth, and thought to provide protection
against cardiovascular disease.
The major function of fats is energy storage.

Humans and other mammals store their fat in adipose cells.

Adipose tissue also cushions vital organs and insulates the

body.
PHOSPHOLIPIDS
In a phospholipid, two fatty acids and a phosphate group are
attached to glycerol.

The two fatty acid tails are hydrophobic, but the phosphate
group and its attachments form a hydrophilic head.
When phospholipids are added to water, they self-assemble into
a bilayer, with the hydrophobic tails pointing toward the
interior.

The structure of phospholipids results in a bilayer arrangement

found in cell membranes.

Phospholipids are the major component of all cell membranes.

 Hydrophilic WATER
head

WATER
Hydrophilic
tail
STEROIDS
Steroids are lipids characterized by a carbon skeleton
consisting of four fused rings.

Cholesterol, an important steroid, is a component in animal cell

membranes.

Although cholesterol is essential in animals, high levels in the

blood may contribute to cardiovascular disease.
 PROTEINS
Proteins account for more than 50% of the dry mass of most
cells.

Protein functions include structural support, storage,

transport, cellular communications, movement, and defense
against foreign substances.
•Enzymes are a type of protein that acts as a catalyst to speed
up chemical reactions.

•Enzymes can perform their functions repeatedly, functioning

as workhorses that carry out the processes of life.
 POLYPEPTIDES
•Polypeptides are unbranched polymers built from the same set of
20 amino acids.
•A protein is a biologically functional molecule that consists of one
or more polypeptides.
AMINO ACID MONOMERS
•Amino acids are organic molecules with carboxyl and amino
groups.
•Amino acids differ in their properties due to differing side chains,
called R groups.
AMINO ACID POLYMERS
•Amino acids are linked by peptide bonds.

•A polypeptide is a polymer of amino acids.

•Polypeptides range in length from a few to more than a thousand

monomers.

•Each polypeptide has a unique linear sequence of amino acids,

with a carboxyl end (C-terminus) and an amino end (N-terminus).
 PROTEIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
•A functional protein consists of one or more polypeptides precisely
twisted, folded, and coiled into a unique shape
•A functional protein consists of one or more polypeptides precisely
twisted, folded, and coiled into a unique shape
FOUR LEVELS OF PROTEIN STRUCTURE
•The primary structure of a protein is its unique sequence of amino
acids
•Secondary structure, found in most proteins, consists of coils and
folds in the polypeptide chain
•Tertiary structure is determined by interactions among various
side chains (R groups)
•Quaternary structure results when a protein consists of multiple
polypeptide chains
•Primary structure, the sequence of amino acids in a protein, is
like the order of letters in a long word.

•Primary structure is determined by inherited genetic

information.
•The coils and folds of secondary structure result from hydrogen
bonds between repeating constituents of the polypeptide
backbone.

•Typical secondary structures are a coil called an a helix and a

folded structure called a b pleated sheet.
•Tertiary structure is determined by interactions between R groups,
rather than interactions between backbone constituents.

•These interactions between R groups include hydrogen bonds,

ionic bonds, hydrophobic interactions, and van der Waals
interactions.

•Strong covalent bonds called disulfide bridges may reinforce the

protein’s structure.
•Quaternary structure results when two or more polypeptide
chains form one macromolecule.

•Collagen is a fibrous protein consisting of three polypeptides

coiled like a rope.

•Hemoglobin is a globular protein consisting of four polypeptides:

two alpha and two beta
chains.
 SICKLE-CELL DISEASE: A CHANGE IN PRIMARY
STRUCTURE
•A slight change in primary structure can affect a protein’s
structure and ability to function.

•Sickle-cell disease, an inherited blood disorder, results from a

single amino acid substitution in the protein hemoglobin.
WHAT DETERMINES PROTEIN STRUCTURE?
•In addition to primary structure, physical and chemical conditions
can affect structure.

•Alterations in pH, salt concentration, temperature, or other

environmental factors can cause a protein to unravel.

•This loss of a protein’s native structure is called denaturation.

•A denatured protein is biologically inactive.

 NUCLEIC ACIDS
Nucleic acids store, transmit, and help express hereditary
information.

•The amino acid sequence of a polypeptide is programmed by a

unit of inheritance called a gene.

•Genes are made of DNA, a nucleic acid made of monomers called

nucleotides.
THE ROLES OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
•There are two types of nucleic acids:
–Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
–Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
•DNA provides directions for its own replication.

•DNA directs synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA) and, through

mRNA, controls protein synthesis.

•Protein synthesis occurs on ribosomes.

THE COMPONENTS OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
•Nucleic acids are polymers called polynucleotides.

•Each polynucleotide is made of monomers called nucleotides.

•Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar,

and one or more phosphate groups.

•The portion of a nucleotide without the phosphate group is called

a nucleoside.
•Nucleoside= nitrogenous base + sugar

•There are two families of nitrogenous bases

–Pyrimidines (cytosine,thymine, and uracil) have a single six-
membered ring
–Purines (adenine and guanine) have a six-membered ring
fused to a five-membered ring
•In DNA, the sugar is deoxyribose; in RNA, the sugar is ribose.

•Nucleotide = nucleoside + phosphate group

NUCLEOTIDE POLYMERS
•Nucleotide polymers are linked together to build a
polynucleotide.
•Adjacent nucleotides are joined by covalent bonds that form
between the —OH group on the 3' carbon of one nucleotide and the
phosphate on the 5' carbon on the next.
•These links create a backbone of sugar-phosphate units with
nitrogenous bases as appendages.
•The sequence of bases along a DNA or mRNA polymer is unique
for each gene.
THE STRUCTURES OF DNA AND RNA MOLECULES
•RNA molecules usually exist as single polypeptide chains .

•DNA molecules have two polynucleotides spiraling around an

imaginary axis, forming a double helix.

•In the DNA double helix, the two backbones run in opposite 5'→
3' directions from each other, an arrangement referred to as
antiparallel

•One DNA molecule includes many genes.

•The nitrogenous bases in DNA pair up and form hydrogen bonds:
adenine (A) always with thymine (T), and guanine (G) always with
cytosine (C).

•Called complementary base pairing.

•Complementary pairing can also occur between two RNA

molecules or between parts of the same molecule.

•In RNA, thymine is replaced by uracil (U) so A and U pair.

DNA AND PROTEINS AS TAPE MEASURES OF EVOLUTION
•The linear sequences of nucleotides in DNA molecules are passed
from parents to offspring.

•Two closely related species are more similar in DNA than are
more distantly related species.

•Molecular biology can be used to assess evolutionary kinship.