BIOMOLECULES

A biomolecule is an organic molecule that is produced by a living

organism. Biomolecules act as building blocks of life and perform
important functions in living organisms . More than 25 naturally occurring
chemical elements are found in biomolecules. Most of the elements have
relatively low atomic numbers. Biomolecules consist primarily of carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. The four most abundant
elements in living organisms, in terms of the percentage of the total number of
atoms, are hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, which together make up
over 99% of the mass of most cells.

Nearly all of the biomolecules in a cell are carbon compounds, which account
for more than one-half of the dry weight of the cells. Cov alent bonding between
carbon and other elements permit formation of a large number ofcompounds.
Most biomolecules can be regarded as derivatives of hydrocarbons. The
hydrogen atoms may be replaced by a variety of functional groups to yield
different families of organic compounds. Typical families of organic
compounds are the alcohols, which have one or more hydroxyl groups; amines,
which have amino groups;aldehydes and ketones, which have carbonyl groups;
and carboxylic acids, which have carboxyl groups. Ma ny biomolecules are
polyfunctional, containing two or more different kinds of functional groups.

MICROMOLECULES
Sugars MACROMOLECULES
Polysaccharide
Fatty acids Fats/Lipids
Amino acids Proteins
Nucleotide Nucleic acid(DNA\RNA)

AMINO ACIDS
Amino acids are compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and
nitrogen. They serve as monomers (building blocks) of proteins and are
composed of an amino group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen atom, and a
distinctive side chain, all bonded to a carbon atom, the alpha carbon.

In an alpha amino acid, the amino and carboxylate groups are attached to
the same carbon atom, which is called the alpha carbon . The various
 amino acids differ with respect to the side chain (R group) attached to their
alpha carbon.
 fig.:- General structure of amino acids

This structure is common to all except one of the  amino acids (proline is
the exception). The R group or side chain attached to the  carbon is different
in each amino acid. In the simplest case, the R group is a hydrogen atom and
amino acid is glycine.

Nucleotides

The nucleotides are phosphoric acid esters of nucleosides, with phosphate at

position C5’. The nucleotide can have on e, two, or three phosphate groups
designated as α, β and γ for the first, second and third, respectively.

Nucleotides are found primarily as the monomeric units comprising the major
nucleic acids of the cell, RNA and DNA. However, they also are required for
numerous other important functions within the cell. These functions include:

• Formation of energy currency like ATP, GTP.

• Act as a precursor for several important coenzymes such as NAD+, NADP+,

FAD and coenzyme A.
 • Serving as a precursor for secondary messengers like cyclic AMP (cAMP),
cGMP.

Polynucleotides

Polynucleotides are formed by the condensation of two or more nucleotides.

The condensation most commonly occurs between the alcohol of a 5' -
phosphate of one nucleotide and the 3' -hydroxyl of a second, with the
elimination of H2O, forming a phosphodiester bond. All nucleotides in a
polynucleotide chain have the same relative orientation. The formation of
phosphodiester bonds in DNA and RNA exhibits directionality. The primary
structure of DNA and RNA (the linear arrangement of the nucleotides)
proceeds in the 5'→3' direction. The common representation of the primary
structure of DNA or RNA molecules is to write the nucleotide sequences from
left to right synonymous with the 5'→3' direction as shown below.

RNA
DNA contains all the information needed to ma intain a cell’s processes, but
these precious blueprints never leave the protected nucleus. How, then, all
these data are transmitted to the body of the cell itself where they are put
to use? The answer: by way of RNA.

RNA molecules play essential roles in the transfer of genetic information

during protein synthesis and in the control of gene expression. The diverse
functions of RNA molecules in living organisms also include the enzymatic
activity of ribozymes and the storage of genetic information in RNA v iruses
and viroids. So, RNA may be genetic or non genetic, catalytic or non -catalytic
and coding (mRNA) or noncoding (like tRNA, rRNA). Within a given cell, RNA
molecules are found in multiple copies and in multiple forms. Major RNA
classes are mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, snRNA, SnoRNA, miRNA, XIST, scRNA, siRNA,
tmRNA and telomerase RNA.

Thermodynamic stability of RNA structure

Primary structure of RNA refers to the sequence of nucleotides. Secondary

structure in RNA is dominated by Watson -Crick base pairing. This fundamental
interaction between bases leads to the formation of double -helical structures
of varying length. In RNA, double-helical tracts are generally short. RNA
double helices adopt the A-form structure, which differs significantly from the
canonical B-form adopted by DNA double helices. RNA’s secondary structure is
generally more stable than its tertiary structure. T hus, formation of the
secondary structure dominates the process of RNA folding. RNA tertiary
structure forms through relatively weak interactions between preformed
secondary structure elements. RNA duplexes are more stable than DNA
duplexes. At physiological pH, denaturation of a double stranded helical RNA
often requires higher temperatures than those required for denaturation of a
DNA molecule with a comparable sequence. However, the physical basis for
these differences in thermal stability is not known.
DNA

DNA is a long polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides,

each of which is usually symbolized by a single letter: either A, T,
C, or G.

Chargaff's rules state that DNA from any species of any organism should
have a 1:1 protein stoichiometry ratio (base pair rule)
of purine and pyrimidine bases (i.e., A+T=G+C) and, more specifically, that the
amount of guanine should be equal to cytosine and the amount
of adenine should be equal to thymine. The structure of DNA is dynamic along
its length, being capable of coiling into tight loops and other shapes. In all
species it is composed of two helical chains, bound to each othe r by hydrogen
bonds. Both chains are coiled around the same axis, and have the same pitch of
34 angstroms (Å) (3.4 nanometres). The pair of chains have a radius of
10 angstroms (1.0 nanometre). According to another study, when measured in
a different solution, the DNA chain measured 22 to 26 angstroms wide (2.2 to
2.6 nanometres), and one nucleotide unit measured 3.3 Å (0.33 nm)
long. Although each individual nucleotide is very small, a DNA polymer can be
very large and may contain hundreds of millions of nucleotides, such as
in chromosome 1. Chromosome 1 is the largest human chromosome with
approximately 220 million base pairs, and would be 85 mm long if
straightened.

CARBOHYDRATES(sugars and polysaccharides) Cn(H2O)n

Carbohydrates are polyhydroxy aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones, or

compounds that can be hydrolyzed to them.

In the majority of carbohydrates, H and O are present in the same

ratio as in water, hence also called as hydrates of carbon.
Carbohydrates are the most abundant bio molecules on Earth.

Carbohydrates are classified into following classes depending upon

whether these undergo hydrolysis and if so on the number of products
form:

Monosaccharides are simple carbohydrates that cannot be

hydrolyzed further into polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone unit.
Oligosaccharides are polymers made up of two to ten
monosaccharide units joined together by glycosidic linkages.
Oligosaccharides can be classified as di -, tri-, tetra- depending
upon the number of monosaccharides pres ent. Amongst these the
most abundant are the disaccharides, with two monosaccharide
units.

Polysaccharides are polymers with hundreds or thousands of

monosaccharide units. Polysaccharides are not sweet in taste
hence they are also called non-sugars.

MONOSACCHARIDES

Monosaccharides consist of a single polyhydroxy aldehyde or

ketone unit. Monosaccharides are the simple sugars, which cannot
be hydrolyzed further into simpler forms and they have a general
formula CnH2nOn. Monosaccharides are colorless, crysta lline
solids that are freely soluble in water but insoluble in nonpolar
solvents. The most abundant monosaccharide in nature is the D -
glucose. Monosaccharides can be further sub classified on the
basis of:

The number of the carbon atoms present

Monosaccharides can be named by a system that is based on the

number of carbons with the suffix -ose added. Monosaccharides
with four, five, six and seven carbon atoms are called tetroses,
pentoses, hexoses and heptoses, respectively.

DISACCHARIDES

A disaccharide consists of two sugars joined by an O-glycosidic bond. In a

disaccharide, the two monosaccharides are joined together by acetal or
glycoside formation. The hemiacetal OH of one monosaccharide and an OH of
the second monosaccharide, dehydrate to es tablish the bond called a glycosidic
bond. A glycosidic bond forms between anomeric carbon and the alkoxy
oxygen. By convention, glycosidic linkages are named by reading from left to
right.
POLYSACCHARIDES

Polysaccharides are ubiquitous in nature. They are also called glycans.

They can be classified into two separate groups, based on their functions:
Structural and storage polysaccharides. Structural polysaccharides
provide mechanical stability to cells, organs, and organisms. Storage
polysaccharides serve as carbohydrate stores that release monosaccharides as
required.

Polysaccharides may be-- homo-polysaccharides (contain only a single

type of monomeric unit) or heteropolysaccharides (contain two or more
different kinds of monomeric units).

Homopolysaccharide

Starch is a branched chain of D-glucose units. It is the storage

form of glucose in plants. It contains a mixture of amylose and
amylopectin. Amylopectin is a branched polymer of  -D-glucose
with  1 − 4-glycosidic linkages and with  1 − 6 branching points that
occur at intervals of approximately 25 to 30 − D-glucose
residues. Amylose is a linear unbranched polymer of  -D-glucose
units in a repeating sequence of  1 − 4-glycosidic linkages.

Cellulose
Cellulose is a linear, unbranched homopolysaccharide of D -glucose units
jointed by beta 1-4 glycosidic linkage. Cellulose is a structural polysaccharide
of plant cells. Although cellulose forms a part of human diet ,eg. -in vegetables
and fruits.

HETEROPOLYSACCHARIDE
Heteropolysaccharides made of two or more different monosaccharide units.
Eg.- Heparin,heparan sulfate .
Fatty Acids

Fatty acids are long chain carboxylic acids (typically 16 or more

carbon atoms) which may or may not contain carbon-carbon double
bonds. The number of carbon atoms are almost always an even
number and are usually unbranched. Oleic acid is the most
abundant fatty acid in nature.

Mono/Poly Unsaturated and Saturated Fatty Acids

Those fatty acids with no carbon-carbon double bonds are called
saturated. Those that have two or more double bonds are called
polyunsaturated. Oleic acid is monounsaturated, as it possesses a
single double bond.

Saturated fats are typically solids and are derived from animals,
while unsaturated fats are liquids and usually extracted from plants.

Unsaturated fats assume a particular geometry that prevents the

molecules from packing as efficiently as they do in saturated
molecules, leading to their propensity to exist as a liquid rather than
a solid. Thus, the boiling point of unsaturated fats is lower than that
of saturated fats.
LIPID

Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up the

building blocks of the structure and function of living cells. Examples
of lipids include fats, oils, waxes, certain vitamins (such as A, D, E
and K), hormones and most of the cell membrane that is not made up
of protein. Lipids are not soluble in water as they are non -polar, but
are thus soluble in non-polar solvents such as chloroform.

Lipids are mainly composed of hydrocarbons in their most reduced

form, making them an excellent form of energy storage, as when
metabolized the hydrocarbons oxidize to release large amounts of
energy. The type of lipid found in fat cells for this purpose is a
triglyceride, an ester created from glycerol and three fatty acids.

Hydrolysable and Non-hydrolysable Lipids

Lipids that contain an ester functional group are hydrolysable in
water. These include neutral fats, waxes, phospholipids, and
glycolipids. Fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, made up of
glycerol (1,2,3-trihydroxypropane) and 3 fatty acids to form a
triester. Triglycerides are found in the blood, and stored in fat cells.
Complete hydrolysis of triacylglycerols yields three fatty acids and a
glycerol molecule.

Non-hydrolyzable lipids lack such functional groups and include

steroids and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).

❖ Synthesis and Function of Lipids in the Body

Lipids are utilized directly, or otherwise synthesized, from fats
present in the diet. There are numerous biosynthetic pathways to
both break down and synthesize lipids in the body.

The main biological functions of lipids include storing energy, as

lipids may be broken down to yield large amounts of energy. Lipids
also form the structural components of cell membranes, and form
various messengers and signaling molecules within the body.