Mendiola, Honey Joy A.

BS Pharmach 2

Most Essential Terms:

1. Nucleic acids – are polymeric molecules in which the repeating units are
nucleotides.
Cells contain two kinds of nucleic acids : •Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA)
•Ribonucleic acids (RNA).
- Major biochemical functions of DNA and RNA are, respectively, transfer of genetic
information and synthesis of proteins.
2. Nucleic acid building blocks – Three types of subunits are present in a nucleic
acid.
(1) a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose)
(2) a nitrogen-containing base (either a purine or a pyrimidine derivative)
(3) a phosphate group
The nitrogen-containing bases are of five types: •adenine (A)
• guanine (G)
• cytosine (C)
•thymine (T)
•uracil (U).
3. Nucleosides and nucleotides – A nucleoside is a compound formed from a pentose
sugar and a purine or pyrimidine base derivative.
4. Primary nucleic acid structure – The “backbone” of a nucleic acid molecule is a
constant alternating sequence of sugar and phosphate groups.
5. Complementary bases – are specific pairs of bases in nucleic acid structures that
hydrogen-bond to each other.
6. Secondary DNA structure – A DNA molecule exists as two polynucleotide chains
coiled around each other in double-helix arrangement.
7. DNA replication – occurs when the two strands of a parent DNA double helix
separate and act as templates for the synthesis of new chains using the principle of
complementary base pairing.
8. Chromosome – is a structure that consists of an individual DNA molecule bound to a
group of proteins.
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BS Pharmach 2

9. Transcription – is the process in which the genetic information encoded in the base
sequence of DNA is copied into hnRNA/mRNA molecules.
10. Translation – is the stage of protein synthesis in which the codons in mRNA are
translated into amino acid sequences of new proteins.
11. Gene – is a portion of a DNA molecule that contains the base sequences needed
for the production of a specific hnRNA/mRNA molecule.
12. Genetic code – The genetic code consists of all the mRNA codons that specify
either a particular amino acid or the termination of protein synthesis.

Nucleic Acids
Types of Nucleic Acids

 The Swiss physiologist Friedrich Miescher (1844-1895) discovered nucleic acids

in 1869 while studying the nuclei of white blood cells.
 The fact that they were initially found in cell nuclei and are acidic accounts for the
name nucleic acid.
 It is now known that nucleic acids are found throughout a cell, not just in the
nucleus.
 The genome or total DNA of a cell acts like a molecular file where the program
for an organism’s activities
 (maintenance, development, growth, reproduction, and even death) are encoded.
 Cells in an organism are exact replicas.
 Cells have information on how to make new cells.
 Molecules responsible for such information are nucleic acids.
 The nucleic acids (DNA in particular) are the “informational molecules”; into their
primary structure is encoded a set of directions that ultimately governs the
metabolic activities of the living cell.

Two types of Nucleic Acids:

 DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid: found within cell nucleus
o storage and transfer of genetic information
o passed from one cell to other during cell division
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BS Pharmach 2

 RNA: Ribonucleic Acid: occurs in all parts of cell

 primary function is to synthesize the proteins
o Gene is a segment of DNA which specifies the chain of amino acids that
comprises the protein molecule
 most human genes are 1000–3500 nucleotide units long
 genome: all of the genetic material (the total DNA) contained in the
chromosomes of an organism
o human genome is about 20,000–25,000 genes
 The genetic message is transcribed by mRNA and translated by tRNA and rRNA
into thousands of different proteins.

Nucleotide Building Blocks

 Nucleic Acids: polymers in which repeating unit is nucleotide
 A nucleotide has three components:
o pentose sugar – a monosaccharide
o phosphate group (PO43-)
o heterocyclic base

Nucleoside Formation
 Nucleoside: formed from condensation reaction between a five-carbon
monosaccharide and a purine or pyrimidine base derivative.
o The N9 of a purine or N1 of a pyrimidine base is attached to C1’ position
of sugar (beta-conformation) in an N-C-glycosidic linkage.
Nomenclature
 For pyrimidine bases – suffix -idine is used (cytidine, thymidine, uridine)
 For purine bases – suffix -osine is used (adenosine, guanosine)
 Prefix “-deoxy” is used to indicate deoxyribose present (e.g.: deoxythymidine)

Polynucleotides and the Nucleic acids

 A ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polynucleotide in which each of the monomers
contains ribose, a phosphate
 group, and one of the heterocyclic bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, or uracil.
 A deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleotide polymer in which each of the
monomers contains
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BS Pharmach 2

Fat-Soluble Vitamins: Vitamins A, D, E, K

 Occur in the lipid fractions of their sources.
 Their molecules have double bonds or phenol rings, so oxidizing agents readily
attack them.
 Destroyed by prolonged exposures to air or to the organic peroxides that develop
in fats and oils turning rancid.
 Because the fat-soluble vitamins are easily oxidized, they destroy oxidizing
agents (which are involved in the development of coronary heart disease, genetic
mutations, and cancer).

Vitamin A
 A primary alcohol of molecular formula C20H30O; occur only in the animal world,
where the best sources are cod-liver oil and other fish-liver oils, animal liver and
dairy products
 Provitamin A is found in the plant world in the form of carotenes. Provitamins
have no vitamin activity; however, after ingestion in the diet, ß-carotene is
cleaved at the central carbon-carbon double bond to give 2 molecules of Vit. A.

Functions of Vitamin A
 Vision: in the eye- vitamin A combines with opsin protein to form the visual
pigment rhodopsin which further converts light energy into nerve impulses that
are sent to the brain.
 Regulating Cell Differentiation: a process in which immature cells change to
specialized cells with function.
o example: differentiation of bone marrow cells white blood cells and red
blood cells.
 Maintenance of the health of epithelial tissues via epithelial tissue differentiation.
o lack of vitamin A causes skin surface to become drier and harder than
normal.
 Reproduction and Growth: in men, vitamin A participates in sperm development.
In women, normal fetal development during pregnancy requires vitamin A.

Vitamin E - Antisterility Vitamin

 Alpha-tocopherol is the most active biological active form of Vitamin E
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BS Pharmach 2

 Tocopherol → Greek, promoter of childbirth

 Functions in the body as an antioxidant in that it inhibits the oxidation of
unsaturated fatty acids by O2.
 Primary function: Antioxidant – protects against oxidation of other compounds.

Vitamin K - Antihemorrhagic Vitamin

 Vit K is synthesized by bacteria that grow in colon.
 Active in the formation of proteins involved in regulating blood clotting.
 Deficiency may occur during the first few days after birth, because newborns lack
the intestinal bacteria that produce Vit. K and because they have no store of Vit.
K (it does not cross the placenta).
 Deficiency may also occur following antibiotic therapy that sterilizes the gut.