Chemical Components of Cells

Four basics elements, such as carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O)
make up 96% of humans body mass.
Carbon (C) atom can form four covalent bonds with other atoms: other carbon (C),
hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) atoms, and make small and large compounds
in the cell called organic molecules,
Combinations of atoms, such as methyl (-CH3), hydroxyl (-OH), carboxyl
(-COOH), carbonyl (-C=O), phosphate (-PO 32-), and amino (-NH2) groups, occur
repeatedly in organic molecules, and are called chemical groups.
Cells contain four major families of small organic molecules-monomers: the sugars,
the fatty acids, the amino acids, and the nucleotides.
These four families linking together with each other and with other molecules,
compose macromolecules-polymers, such as: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and
nucleic acids.

Some of the roles of macromolecules:

Energy source
Energy storage
Structural support
Catalysis
Transport
Protection and defense
Regulation of metabolic activities
Maintenance of homeostasis
Means for movement, growth, and development
Heredity
Chemical bonds
There are two types of chemical bonds:
Strong bonds, such as ionic and covalent
Weak bonds, include hydrogen, hydrophobic, Van der Waals forces
CARBOHYDRATES (also called SUGARS)
Carbohydrates are compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen with the general formula
(CH2O)n where n is 3 or more:
The main functions of CARBOHYDRATES:
1) Production and storage of energy in the cell
2) Storage of food for plants, and animals, and human
3) Building blocks for various structures of the cell
There are four major categories of carbohydrates:
monosaccharides
disaccharides
oligosaccharides
polysaccharides

Monosaccharides are simple sugars. Can have 3, 5, 6, 7 carbon atoms in the

chain. Most common are pentoses and hexoses.
Pentoses five-carbon sugars. Two examples of pentoses:

Ribose and deoxyribose

Hexoses (six carbon sugars) include: glucose sugar found in blood, fructose fruit
sugar, galactose milk sugar.
Disaccharides two monosaccharides linked together by covalent bonds:
Saccharose or sucrose (table sugar) composed of a glucose and a fructose units;
Lactose (milk sugar) - composed of a galactose and a glucose;
Maltose (in fermentation processes) of two glucose molecules
Sugars are linked together by a condensation reaction in which a molecule of water is
expelled.
The bonds created by the condensation reactions can be broken by the reverse process of
hydrolysis, in which a molecule of water is consumed

Oligosaccharides are saccharide polymers containing a small number (typically three

to ten units) of simple sugars (monosaccharides).
Oligosaccharides can have many functions:
Are commonly found as a component of glycoproteins or glycolipids on the plasma
membrane of animal cells where they play a role in cell-cell recognition.
Are found in many fruits, vegetables and and are a significant part of the daily diet of
most of the worlds population.
can increase the number of friendly bacteria in the colon while simultaneously
reducing the number of harmful bacteria.
Are widely used in animal feeding to improve gastrointestinal health, energy levels and
performance.
Polysaccharides, such as glycogen, starch, cellulose and chitin - are giant long
and branched chains which can contain thousands of monosaccharide units.
LIPIDS

Lipids are in essence the water-insoluble molecules of life. Lipids include a broad group of
molecules: fats, sterols, waxes.
The roles for lipids in organisms include:
energy storage (fats and oils),
cell membranes (phospholipids),
capture of light energy (carotinoids),
hormones and vitamins (steroids and modified fatty acids),
thermal insulation,
electrical insulation of nerves etc,
and water repellency (waxes and oils).
Lipids are made of fatty acids, glycerol and some other components.
A fatty acid molecule is long linear chain which has two chemically distinct regions:
i) one is a carboxyl (-COOH) group, which behaves as an acid (carboxylic acid): it is
ionized in solution (-COO-), extremely hydrophilic, and chemically reactive.
ii) the other is a long hydrocarbon chain, which is hydrophobic and not very reactive
chemically. The hydrocarbon chain makes a backbone of the fatty acids.

Hydrophilic carboxylic acid head

Hydrophobic hydrocarbon tail

a) The hydrocarbon tail which has no double bonds between carbon atoms and contains
the maximum possible number of hydrogens, is called saturated tail, accordingly, fatty
acids with no double bonds are saturated.
b) The hydrocarbon tail with one or more double bonds along their length are called
unsaturated, and this kind of fatty acids are said to be unsaturated.
Glycerol has a backbone of three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in
water and thus the glycerol itself forms the backbone to lipids known as triacylglycerols
(triglycerides).
A triglyceride is a compound derived from glycerol and
three fatty acids. Triglycerides are blood lipid that help
enable the bidirectional transference of adipose fat and
blood glucose from the liver.
Phospholipids. Cell membranes are composed largely of
phospholipids.
The phospholipid organization:
glycerol is joined only to two fatty acid chains
the third site on the glycerol is linked to a hydrophilic complex made of phosphate
group and choline.
each phospholipid molecule has a hydrophobic tail composed of the two fatty
acid chains and a hydrophilic head, where phosphate is located. Molecules like
phospholipids, with both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, are termed
amphipathic.
Two monolayers of phospholipid molecules are arranged in such mode that hydrophilic
heads of each monolayer are directed outside, in contact with water, with the
hydrophilic tails combined tail-to-tail and directed inside.

STEROIDS
They are lipids which do not have fatty acids and do not have glycerol. They contain a
specific arrangement of four cyclic rings that are joined to
each other: three cyclohexane rings A, B, and C and one
cyclopentane ring (D). The steroids vary by the functional
groups attached to this four ring core and by the oxydation
state of the rings. Hundreds of distinct steroids are found in
plants, animals, and fungi. Sterols are special forms of
steroids. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat
cholesterol, the sex hormones, and others. Most medical steroid drugs are
corticosteroids, which regulate many aspects of metabolism and immune function, and

help maintain blood volume and control renal excretion of electrolytes. Anabolic steroids
They increase protein within cells, especially in muscles.
Waxes
Waxes are organic compounds that consist of long alkyl chains. Waxes are
biosynthesized by many plants and animals. The
best known animal wax is beeswax, which is used in
constructing their honeycombs. Lanolin is a wax
obtained from wool, for example, lambswool.
Especially in warm climates, plants secrete waxes as a way to control evaporation and
hydration.
Proteins
Proteins are molecules with diverse structure and functions. Proteins
range in size from a few amino acids to thousands. Some proteins are
composed of a single chain of amino acids, called a polypeptide.
Other proteins can have more than one polypeptide chain.
There are about 20 different types of amino acids, each linked to its
neighbor through a covalent peptide bond which can compose a
polypeptide chain.
The key elements of an amino acid are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and nitrogen
(N).
Amino acids are molecules containing an amino group (NH 2), a carboxylic acid group
(COOH) and amino acids side-chain (functional group or radical, R) that varies between
different amino acids.
Amino acids are critical to life:

serve as the building blocks of proteins.

eight standard amino acids (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine,

threonine, tryptophan and valine) are essential for humans because they can not be
created from other compounds by the human body, and so they must be taken from
food.

amino acids are important in nutrition and are used in nutrition supplements.
Peptide bond formation
Peptide is built by amino acids bonding to each other with peptide bonds. This bond forms
during condensation reaction, when the amine group of one amino acid and the carboxylic
groups of other amino acid react with each other and become joined and the molecule of
water is extracted. The amino group of one
end of peptide chain is called N-terminus, and
the carboxyl group on the opposite end is called
C-terminus.
Linked repeated series of carbon, nitrogen
and oxygen atoms between N- and C- ends,
not including side chains R1,2...n - is called
protein backbone.

Protein structure
Protein complex molecular structure can be organized in four main levels, named primary,
secondary, tertiary and quaternary structures.
1 PRIMARY STRUCTURE. Specific order of amino acids lined in chain, rather similar to
collar.
2 SECONDARY STRUCTURE. There are two common secondary structures: one is the
(alfa)-helix a right-handed coil, and the other is (beta)-sheet.
3 TERTIARY STRUCTURE. Is three dimensional (3-D) shape of the completed full-length
polypeptide chain.
4 QUATERNARY STRUCTURE. Particular protein molecule is formed as a complex of
more than one polypeptide chain. Quaternary structure results when multiple polypeptide
chains, named subunits bind together and interact. Hemoglobin has four subunits: two are
identical -globular units, and the other two -globular units.
Protein functions
Proteins have important roles including:
Structural support building-block unit, provide structure of tissues, organelles and
mechanical support. Main mass of cell is made by proteins
Catalysis - enzymes increase the rates of chemical reactions in cells. These enzymes
are highly specific; in general, each enzyme catalyzes only one chemical reaction
(increases speed or blocks reactions).
Transport carriers of other molecules and ions inside the cell, and betwee the cells
with the help of channel proteins, carrier proteins, and pumps
Storage stores small molecules and ions in liver, egg, milk.
Regulation regulators of physiological functions such as cell life, mitosis,
karyokinesis, cytokinesis; regulators of gene activity
Signalling carries signals from cell to cell; hormones and growth factors coordinate
physiological function in animals
Movement enable living systems to move flagella, cilia (bacteria, protozoa); also
myosin and actin proteins im muscles.
Receptors - used by cells to detect signals and transmit them to the cells response
mechanisms. Irritability and reactions to changes of environment
Protection and defence generators of immunity, possibility to resist, to defend from
intruders, to neutralyze poisons.
And many other functions necessary for all living organisms.
Nucleic acids
Together with proteins, nucleic acids make up the most important macromolecules. Nucleic
acids are found in all life forms, including bacteria, mitochondria, chloroplasts, viruses and
viroids.
The basic components of biological nucleic acids are the nucleotides, each of which
contains a five carbon sugar (pentose) - ribose or deoxyribose, a phosphate group,
and a nucleobase.
There are two main types of nucleic acids, differing in type of sugar in their sugarphosphate backbone:
Those based on the sugar deoxyribose (in which hydroxyl at the 2 position of the
ribose carbon ring is replaced by hydrogen) are deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA,
and contain the bases adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T).

Those based on the sugar ribose are ribonucleic acids, or RNA, and contain the
bases adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and uracil (U) - (U is chemically similar
to the T in DNA).
Nucleobases can be purine or pyrimidine.
cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U) are called pyrimidines because they all
derive from a six-membered pyrimidine ring;
guanine (G) and adenine (A) are called purines, with a second, five-membered ring
fused to the six-membered ring. Each nucleotide is named from the base it contains.
The sugars and phosphates are connected to each other through phosphodiester linkages.
In conventional nomenclature, the carbons to which the phosphate groups attach are
the 3-end and 5-end carbons of the sugar.
This gives nucleic acids directionality, and the ends of nucleic acids molecules are
referred as 5-end and 3-end.
In most cases DNA molecules are double-stranded, and an RNA molecules are singlestranded.
One DNA or RNA molecule differs from another primarily in the sequence of nucleotides.
Nucleic acids can vary in size. Small interfering RNA contains about 21 nucleotides, while
the human chromosome 1 is a molecule that contains 247 million base pairs.
The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information and
containing the instructions needed to construct other components of cell, such as
proteins and RNA molecules.
The main RNA functions are copying genetic information from DNA and converting
genetic information from genes into the amino acid sequences of proteins.