General Biology

Molecular Composition of Cells

» carbon » nitrogen » phosphorus
» oxygen » hydrogen

Biomolecules
1. Proteins 2. Carbohydrates 3. Lipid 4. Nucleic Acids

Proteins
- amino acid (monomores)
Chemical Structure of Amino Acid

R
H |
O
(- HHN) N C C (-COOH)
|
H H OH

Amino group Phosphate group Acid group

3 Kinds of Amino Acid
Essential – those that cannot be produced by our body.
Non- essential – those that can be produced by our body.
Conditional – not vital but many became urgent during health crisis or stress.

LIST OF NUTRITIVE AMINO ACID

ESSENTIAL CONDITIONALLY NON- NON-ESSENTIAL

ESSENTIAL

Histidine Arginine Alanine

Isolencine Asparagine Aspartate
Leucine Glutamine Cysteine
Methionine Glycine Glutamate
Phenylalanine Proline
Threonine Serine
Tryptophan Tyrosine
Valine
Lysine

Carbohydrates
- monosaccharide (monomers)
- most abundant source of energy
- quick energy
- most abundant organic molecules in Nature
- strong form of energy (glycogen)
Monosaccharide
Glucose Sucrose (sugar) = Glucose + Fructose
Fructose Maltose ( ) = 2 Glucose
Galactose Lactose (milk) = Glucose + Galactose
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Glucose Galactose Fructose
H O H O H
C C
H C OH
H C OH H C OH
C O
HO C H HO C H
HO C H
H C OH HO C H
H C OH
H C OH H C OH
H C OH
H C OH H C OH
H C OH
H H
H

Characteristics
(No. of carbon)
- Diose - Triose - Tetrose - Pentose (also called deoxyribose) - Hexose
(arrangement of chemical structure)
- Aldose - Ketose

Disaccharide
- composed of 2 monosaccharide joined together through a process called condensation reaction.
Sucrose – (table sugar) combined glucose and fructose, used for sweeteners.
Maltose – (malt or beer sugar) the least sweet, combine 2 glucose
Lactose – (milk sugar) combine glucose and galactose, great source of nutrients for infants.
used for dairy products.
Polysaccharide (3 or more monosaccharide)
linear polysaccharide (cellulose) Example of polysaccharide
- rigid and insoluble (cellulose)
branched polysaccharide (glycogen) pectin – soluble fiber
- soluble in water
Glycosidic bond – dehydration process
4 Kinds of Polysaccharide
1. Starch – storage of energy for plants
2. Glycogen – storage of energy for animals
3. Cellulose – compose of cell wall (plants)
4. Chitin – fungi

Lipids
- fatty acid (monomers)
- biomolecules containing chains of hydrocarbon.
Hydrocarbon – organic compounds that are made up of carbon & hydrogen, insoluble in water

Types of Lipids
1. Triglycerides
- generally known as fats
- contain a glycerol attached to the fatty acids
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FATTY ACIDS
- composed of a long chain of carbon atoms connected to a carboxylic acid (COOH)
* saturated fats – single bonds in the fatty acid chain.
* unsaturated fats – (oils) contains one or more double bonds.
2. Phospolipids
- lipids w/ phosphate group
Hydrophobic or non polar “tail” – composed of two chains of fatty acid
Hydrophilic polar “head” – composed of phosphate group.
3,. Steroids
- have four fused carbon rings
- help in regulating metabolism, immune response, reproduction etc.
Cholesterol (sterol) – most common steroid form.
Testosterone – male sex hormone
Progesterone & Estrogen – (estradoil) female sex hormone
Adrenocorticoid hormones – responding to stress imbalances
(aldosterone – reabsorption of sodium and chloride ions in the kidney & regulates loss
potassium)
Cortisol – regulation of energy reserve in the body
Cortisone – treat inflammaby disease, etc.
4. Waxes
- (esters) carboxylic acid derivatives
- cerumen (earwax) prevents entry of some materials into the ear canal.

Triglycerides

Phospolipids Steroid Waxes

Hydrophilic
head

Hydrophobic
tail
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Nucleic Acid
- nucleotides (monomores)
- largest molecule among the organic compunds.
Nucleotides
- composed of nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar and atleast one phosphate group.
Type of Nucleic Acid
DNA – Deoxyribonucleic Acid
- long molecule that contains coded instructions for cellular activities.
RNA – Ribonucleic Acid
- active in acquisition of traits. Encoding to decoding and regulating the expression of genes.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) – serves as a temporary copy of a gene in the DNA
Transfer RNA (tRNA) – translates the sequence of nucleic acid in a gene.
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) – forms the peptide bonds between amino acids in a polyeptide.
Component DNA RNA
sugar deoxyribose ribose
bases adenine, guanine adenine, guanine
thymine, cytosine thymine, uracil
strands double stranded with single stranded
base pairing
helix Yes No

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

- like a battery that provides the highest source of energy in cells.

Structure

T
G
C
G
T
A