Republic of the Philippines

OUR LADY OF LOURDES COLLEGE FOUNDATION

COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
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Biomolecule

OUTLINE OF DISCUSSION
I. LIPIDS AND MEMBRANE STRUCTURE

✓ Cell Membrane Structures and its function

✓ How does Complex Lipids interact to form Cell Membrane?

II. EMULSIFICATION LIPIDS: BILE ACIDS

✓ Cholesterol

✓ Primary Bile Acids

✓ Bile Acids Mechanism

III. MESSENGER LIPIDS: STEROIDS

✓ Cholesterol as its precursor

✓ Physiological Roles of Steroid Hormones

✓ Steroid Hormones

✓ Major classes of Steroid Hormones

 I. LIPIDS AND MEMBRANE STRUCTURE

The complex lipids form the membranes around body cells and around small
structures inside the cells. These small structures inside the cell are called
organelles.

CELL MEMBRANE is a LIPID-BASED structure that separates a cell’s aqueous-

based interior from the aqueous environment surrounding the cell.

The purpose of the cell membrane is to hold the different components of the cell
together and to protect it from the environment outside the cell. The cell membrane
also regulates what enters and exits the cell so that it doesn’t lose too many
nutrients, or take in too many ions.

The major molecules that make up cell membrane are PHOSPHOLIPIDS,

CHOLESTEROL, AND PROTEINS.
LIPID BILAYER
is a two-layer-thick structure of phospholipids and glycolipids in which the non-
polar tails of the lipids are in the middle of the structure and the polar heads are on the
outside surfaces of the structure.
PHOSPHOLIPIDS
There are two important parts of a phospholipid: the head and the two tails. The
head is a phosphate molecule that is attracted to water (hydrophilic). The two tails are
made up of fatty acids (chains of carbon atoms) that aren’t compatible with, or repel, water
(hydrophobic).
GLYCOLIPIDS
are glycoconjugates of lipids that are generally found on the extracellular face of
eukaryotic cellular membranes, and function to maintain stability of the membrane.
CHOLESTEROL
The cholesterol molecules are randomly distributed across the phospholipid
bilayer, helping the bilayer stay fluid in different environmental conditions.
SATURATED AND UNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS
Saturated fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms that have only single bonds
between them. Unsaturated fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms that have double
bonds between some of the carbons.
PROTEINS
The proteins are responsible for moving substances such as nutrients and
electrolytes across the membrane. The cell is made up of two different types, or “classes”,
of proteins. Integral Proteins and Peripheral Proteins.
GLYCOPROTEIN
They enable cells to recognize another cell as familiar or foreign, which is called
cell-cell recognition.

II. EMULSIFICATION LIPIDS: BILE ACIDS

BILE
is a fluid containing emulsifying agents that is secreted by the liver, stored in the
gallbladder, and released into the small intestine during digestion.
Major constituents of BILE:
Bile salts, bile pigment (bilirubin), phospholipids (mainly lecithin), cholesterol, and
inorganic ions.
BILE ACIDS
▪ An emulsifier is a substance that can disperse and stabilize water-insoluble
substances as colloidal particles in an aqueous solution.
▪ Cholesterol derivatives called BILE ACIDS function as a lipid-emulsifying agent
that facilitate the absorption of dietary lipids in the intestine.
Cholesterol, “27 carbon molecule” is the parent compound for bile acids and salts.
PRIMARY BILE ACIDS
o Cholic acid: 3 OH
o Chenodeoxycholic: 2 OH
When we make primary bile acid from the cholesterol what we usually do is remove 3
carbons (the hydrocarbon tail is reduced) it becomes 24C molecule with carboxylic acid
group at the end. Then we add hydroxyl group to it.
The primary bile acids are converted to more complex bile acids by attachment of a
small amino acid to the carbon 17 side chain carboxyl group via an amide linkage.
The primary bile acid (the cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid) interact with GLYCINE
OR TAURINE to form the Conjugated Bile Acids.
Bile salts are made of bile acids that are conjugated with glycine or taurine.
Complexed bile acids such as these have enhanced emulsifying ability stemming from
one end of the molecule being strongly hydrophilic (the amino acid bearing the carbon
chain) and the rest of the molecule (the steroid nucleus with its small attachments) being
largely hydrophobic.

III. MESSENGER LIPIDS: STEROIDS

The third major class of lipids is the steroids. Steroids are hydrophobic and insoluble in
water.
o Comprised of four rings; A, B, and C rings are six-membered rings or
cyclohexane rings. While the D ring is a five-membered ring or cyclopentane
ring.
The most abundant steroid in the human body, and the most important, is
CHOLESTEROL.
o Cholesterol is mainly synthesized in the liver and is the precursor to many
steroid hormones such as testosterone and estradiol. It is also the precursor to
Vitamin D.
Cholesterol serves as a plasma membrane component in all animal cells. Its second
important function is to serve as a raw material for the synthesis of other steroids, such
as the sex and adrenocorticoid hormones and bile salts.

PHYSIOLOGICAL ROLES OF STEROID HORMONES

Cholesterol is the starting material for the synthesis of steroid hormones.
Two major classes of Steroid Hormones:
▪ SEX HORMONES
which control the reproduction and secondary sex characteristics.
▪ ADRENOCORTICOID HORMONES
which regulate numerous biochemical processes in the body.
The sex hormones can be classified into three major subclasses:
1. ANDROGENS – male sex hormones
 2. ESTROGENS – female sex hormones
3. PROGESTINS – pregnancy hormones

ANDROGENS
Synthesized in the testes and adrenal cortex. These are the group of sex hormones
that give men their 'male' characteristics.
o TESTOSTERONE is the most common androgen.
ESTROGENS
Synthesized in the ovaries and adrenal cortex, and are responsible for the
development of female secondary sex characteristics at the onset of puberty and for
regulation of the menstrual cycle.
o The most important and biologically active estrogen is the ESTRADIOL.
Estradiol
Regulates the cyclic changes occurring in the uterus and ovaries known as the
menstrual cycle.
Progesterone
is the primary PROGESTIN that prepares the uterus for pregnancy.

PROGESTERONE AND ESTRADIOL MECHANISM

DURING MENSTRUAL CYCLE
If no fertilization takes place, progesterone production stops altogether and estradiol
production decreases. This halt decreases the thickening of the uterine lining, which is
sloughed off with accompanying bleeding during menstruation.
A drug, now used worldwide, called MIFEPRISTONE or RU486 acts as a competitor to
progesterone.
o Mifepristone blocks the action of progesterone by binding to the same receptor
sites.
ADRENOCORTICOID HORMONES
The adrenocorticoid hormones are products of the adrenal glands.
There are two subclasses of adrenocorticoid hormones:
1. MIRENALOCORTICOIDS
 regulate the concentrations of ions, mainly Na+ or K+
o ALDOSTERONE is one of the most important mineralocorticoids. Produced in
the outer section (cortex) of the adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys.
2. GLUCOCORTICOIDS
control glucose metabolism and counteract inflammation. The term corticoid
indicates that the site of the secretion is the cortex (outer part) of the gland.
CORTISOL is the major glucocorticoid. It regulates how the body converts fats,
proteins, and carbohydrates to energy.
Cortisol and its ketone derivative CORTISONE have remarkable anti-inflammatory
effects.

Thank You!

BIOCHEMISTRY

CLARETE, AZLE MAE P.

BSMLS-II

MR. LAWRENCE R. SANTIAGO, RMT

Instructor

9 November 2022