Biological Molecules

The Building Blocks of Life

 The FOUR Classes of Large Biomolecules

• All living things are made up of four classes of

large biological molecules:
• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Protein
• Nucleic Acids

• Macromolecules are large molecules composed

of thousands of covalently bonded atoms

• Molecular structure and function are inseparable

Macromolecules are polymers, built from
monomers
• A polymer is a long molecule consisting of many similar
building blocks
• These small building-block molecules are called
monomers
• Three of the four classes of life’s organic molecules are
polymers
• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Nucleic acids
• All animals, are heterotrophs that need to take
in energy and organic molecules from plant
and animal matter
• Food calorie or calorie indicate the amount of
energy that foods will produce in the human
body
• Note that 1 kcal or 1000 calories (C) is the
same
• A young adult would often need to take 1800-
2500C/day depending on their size and level of
activity
What do human get from food?
• Heterotrophs, such as human being, obtain energy,
nutrients and raw materials from food. These are
important for cell growth, cell division, metabolism,
repair, and maintenance of the body.
• Nutrients can be classified as either ORGANIC or
INORGANIC nutrients
• ORGANIC NUTRIENTS contain CARBON such as
carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and nucleic acid
• INORGANIC NUTRIENTS those that DO NOT contain
CARBON such as water and mineral salts
 Most common and important elements in the human body

Element % of Function in Life

Human
Weight
OXYGEN 65 Part of water and most organic molecules.
Also, molecular oxygen
CARBON 18 The backbone of all organic molecules
HYDROGEN 10 Part of all organic molecules and of water
NITROGEN 3 Component of proteins and nucleic acid
CALCIUM 2 Constituent of bone. Also, essential for the
action of nerve and muscles
PHOSPHORUS 1 Part of cell membrane and of energy
storage molecules. Also, a constituent of
bone
POTASSIUM 0.3 Important in nerve action
 Element % of Function in Life
Human
Weight
SULFUR 0.2 Structural component of most
proteins

SODIUM 0.1 The primary ion in body fluids. Also,

important for nerve action
CHLORINE 0.1 Component of digestive acid. Also, a
major ion in body fluids

MAGNESIUM Trace Important for the action of certain

enzymes and for muscle contraction
IRON Trace A constituent of hemoglobin, the
oxygen-carrying molecule
The Synthesis and Breakdown of Polymers

• A dehydration reaction occurs when

two monomers bond together through
the loss of a water molecule
• Polymers are disassembled to
monomers by hydrolysis, a reaction
that is essentially the reverse of the
dehydration reaction
Dehydration Synthesis
 Dehydration Synthesis

Two glucose
molecules ...can bond together
(monomers)... to make maltose
(dimer).
Hydrolysis
 Hydrolysis

A dimer such as ...can be broken

maltose, or any apart into its
other polymer... constituent
monomers.
 Making/Breaking Molecules
Monomers or
Polymers?
The process The process
occurring between occurring between
C and A is: A and C is:
Hydrolysis Dehydration
Synthesis

What is taken What is given

up here? off here?
H2O H2O

Monomer or
Polymer?
Carbohydrates
 One glucose molecule alone
is a monomer.

Two or more
glucose
molecules linked
together can
make a polymer.
 Monomers
Simple sugars, such as
glucose, are the
monomers of complex
carbohydrates.

Label a hydrogen group

and hydroxyl group on
the glucose diagram.
What are some
properties of these
groups?
 CARBOHYDRATES
• Are large biological molecules consisting of
Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Oxygen (O)
atoms.
• Most abundant class of organic compounds found
in living organisms
• Major source of metabolic energy, both for plants
and animals.
Biological Role of Carbohydrates

• Role as FUEL and NUTRITION

 Carbohydrates provide the
necessary basic needs of living
bodies. For example, glucose from
carbohydrate compounds which is
the main nutrient of cells.
• Role in ENERGY RESERVES
Several types of polysaccharides like
starch found in plants serve as
energy reserves. Later, the stored
energy will be hydrolysis to provide
sugar to the cells when needed.
• The role as a MATTER BUILDERS

 Organisms building materials stronger

than structural polysaccharides. For
example, cellulose is the main component
of plant cell walls. It is mainly found in
stalk, stem, branches and all the woody
parts of plant tissues.
• The role as a REGULATORY FAT
METABOLISM
 Carbohydrates prevent the oxidation of
fats that are perfect.
• Role for PROTEIN SAVOR
 Energy is the body’s primary needs.
Therefore, if the carbohydrates that come
from insufficient food, protein is converted
to produce an amount of energy.
 Classification: Monosaccharides
• Monosaccharides have molecular
formulas that are usually multiples
of CH2O

• Glucose (C6H12O6) is the most

common monosaccharide
• Monosaccharides are classified by
– The location of the carbonyl group
– The number of carbons in the
carbon skeleton
 Classification: Disaccharides
• A disaccharide is formed when a dehydration
reaction joins two monosaccharides

• This covalent bond is called a glycosidic

linkage
 glucose fructose sucrose

What process do you see happening here to create this

glycosidic linkage between the two sugars?

What is the scientific term for a pair of monomers linked

together?
 Classification: Polysaccharides
• Polysaccharides, the polymers of sugars,
have storage and structural roles

• The structure and function of a polysaccharide

are determined by its sugar monomers and the
positions of glycosidic linkages
 Types of Polysaccharides: Storage

• Starch, a storage
polysaccharide of
plants, consists
entirely of glucose
monomers
• Plants store surplus
starch as granules
within chloroplasts
and other plastids
• The simplest form
of starch is amylose
• Glycogen is a
storage
polysaccharide in
animals
• Humans and other
vertebrates store
glycogen mainly in
liver and muscle
cells
 Types of Polysaccharides: Structural

• The polysaccharide cellulose is a major

component of the tough wall of plant cells

• Like starch, cellulose is a polymer of glucose,

but the glycosidic linkages differ

• The difference is based on two ring forms for

glucose: alpha () and beta ()
 Polysaccharide Random Acts of Biology

• Cellulose in human food passes through the digestive

tract as insoluble fiber

• Some microbes use enzymes to digest cellulose

• Many herbivores, from cows to termites, have symbiotic

relationships with these microbes

• Chitin, another structural polysaccharide, is found in the

exoskeleton of arthropods (crunch!)

• Chitin also provides structural support for the cell walls of

many fungi
 Glycosidic linkages between many
sugar molecules create complex
carbohydrates, such as starch.

What is the scientific

term for many
monomers linked
together?
 Cellulose

Hemp
Cotton
Rayon

Dietary
Linen “fiber”
What do you see in the structure of cellulose that tells
you that it is a carbohydrate?

How is cellulose similar to starch?

 Cellulose vs. Starch

We can digest starch (amylose) but not cellulose.

What difference do you see that might be the reason
behind this?
 Chitin

Pectin
In general, how
can we describe
complex
carbohydrates?
Lipids
 LIPIDS
• Are a group of naturally occurring
molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols,
fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K,
glycerol and phospholipids.
Fats: Start with a Simple Little Glycerol Molecule

• Fats are constructed from two

types of smaller molecules:
glycerol and fatty acids
• Glycerol is a three-carbon
alcohol with a hydroxyl group
attached to each carbon
• A fatty acid consists of a
carboxyl group attached to a
long carbon skeleton
Biological Roles of Lipid
CHEMICAL MESSENGER
 Lipids are small molecules insoluble
in water, they are excellent
candidates for signalling. Since all
multicellular organisms use chemical
messengers to send information
between organelles and to other
cells.
 STORAGE and PROVISION OF ENERGY
 Stored lipids are triacylglycerols, it
provide a source of energy and to form
the stuctural components for cells.
 MAINTENANCE of TEMPERATURE
 Layers of subcutaneous fat under the skin
helps in insulation and protection from
cold.
 Label a methyl group and a hydroxyl group on one
of the fatty acids. What are some properties of
these groups?

What process
do you see
happening here
to create these
ester bonds
between the
fatty acid chains
and the glycerol
in this
triglyceride?
 Lipids that are solid
at room temperature
are composed mostly
of saturated fatty
acids.

Stearic acid (found in wax

and lard) and butyric acid
(found in butter) are
examples of saturated fatty
acids.
Lipids that are liquid at
room temperature are
composed mostly of
unsaturated fatty acids.

Oleic acid and linoleic acid

are unsaturated fatty acids
that are common in
vegetable oils.
Saturated vs. Unsaturated
 A puzzle:

Shortening and margarine

labels often brag that their
products are made with healthy,
unsaturated vegetable oils.
Vegetable oils are liquid at room
temperature. So why are
shortening and margarine solid
at room temperature?
 What’s a Trans fat?
• Hydrogenating vegetable oils also creates
unsaturated fats with trans double bonds
• These trans fats may contribute more than
saturated fats to cardiovascular disease
 Saturated or Unsaturated?
• A diet rich in saturated
fats may contribute to
cardiovascular disease
through plaque deposits

• Hydrogenation is the
process of converting
unsaturated fats to
saturated fats by adding
hydrogen
 Trans fats?
Unsaturated fats bend Trans configuration results in
because of the cis an unsaturated fatty acid that
configuration is a straight chain like a
saturated fatty acid

Trans fats are rare in nature. Hydrogenation can create both

saturated and trans fatty acids.
 Phospholipids
Saturated or
unsaturated?

Label the phosphate group

on this phospholipid. What
are some properties of this
group?
 A Single Phospholipid Molecule
Choline
Hydrophilic head

Phosphate

Glycerol
Hydrophobic tails

Fatty acids

Hydrophilic
head

Hydrophobic
tails

(a) Structural formula (b) Space-filling model (c) Phospholipid symbol

Steroids
 Steroids
• Steroids are lipids characterized by a carbon
skeleton consisting of four fused rings
• Cholesterol, an important steroid, is a
component in animal cell membranes
• Although cholesterol is essential in animals,
high levels in the blood may contribute to
cardiovascular disease
Proteins
 PROTEINS
• Any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds
that consist large molecules composed of one or
more chains of amino acid.
• Consisting the atoms of CARBON, HYDROGEN,
OXYGEN,SULFUR, and NITROGEN
 Biological roles of Proteins
1. proteins build new tissues of the body
2. They maintain and replace damaged tissues
3. They carry out regulating activities as enzymes
and hormones.
4. They are protective as antibodies
5. They help in other important activities such as
movement of skeletal muscles, transport of
oxygen, and pigmentation of skin
 Monomers

Amino Carboxylic acid

group group

Amino acids are the monomers of proteins.

On your diagram, label the amino group and the
carboxylic acid group. What are some properties of
these groups?
 Functional Groups
Functional groups
determine how a
molecule will
interact with other
molecules.

Why does sugar dissolve in water?

 R-groups
determine the
properties of
individual
amino acids.
What process do you see happening here to create this
peptide bond between the two amino acids?

What is the scientific term for many monomers linked

together?
Some proteins, like keratin, are structural proteins.
Actin and myosin fibers in muscle cells, spider webs, and
silk are also structural proteins.
Some proteins, such as insulin, are hormones.
Some proteins are enzymes that build or break down other
molecules in living cells.
Some proteins are structured to carry or move substances,
such as hemoglobin that carries oxygen, or cell membrane
proteins that move substances across the membrane.
 Heat, acidity, or both can denature proteins. Denaturing
changes the shape of a protein, which changes its
appearance and functionality. Denaturing is what happens
when we fry an egg (egg whites contain albumin protein)
or use acids to turn milk into cheese (milk solids contain
casein proteins).
 The shape of a protein determines its function.

The shape of an individual protein is determined by the

order of amino acids in the primary chain, which affects how
the amino acid chain twists and folds into the final shape of
the protein.

DNA contains the code that instructs the cell machinery to

put amino acids together in a particular order to make a
particular protein. As long as the DNA contains the correct
code, the protein will function. Mistakes in the code
(mutations) change the order of amino acids, which
changes the structure of the protein, which prevents the
protein from carrying out its function.
Nucleic Acids
 LIPIDS
• Are a group of naturally occurring
molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols,
fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K,
glycerol and phospholipids.
 NUCLEIC ACID
• Are polymeric macromolecules essential for
all known forms of life.
• Nucleic acids, which include
DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid) and
RNA(ribonucleic acid), are made from
monomers as Nucleotides.
Biological Roles of Nucleic acid

• Nucleic acid are informational

macromolecules. They are used by all
organisms to store hereditary
information that determines structural
and functional characteristics.
• Nucleic acids are biological molecules
found in a life. The main function of
nucleic acids is to store and transmit
genetic materials.
 Monomers
Label the parts
on this
nucleotide.

Is this a
nucleotide of
DNA or RNA?
How can you
tell?
Nucleotides link together to form nucleic acids. The
sugars bind to the phosphate groups to form the
backbone of the chain.
DNA is two strands of
nucleotides side-by-
side.

What is the type of

bond that forms the
cross-links holding the
two strands together?
 ATP

Adenosine
triphosphate, the
universal energy
carrier, is a single
nucleotide (adenine)
with two extra
phosphate groups
attached.
 Try to fill in this table from memory:

Monomers Polymers Examples

Complex Starch,
Simple sugars
Carbohydrates Cellulose, etc.

Hemoglobin,
Amino acids Proteins
Keratin, etc.

Fatty acids & Fats, waxes,

Lipids
glycerol oils, steroids.

Nucleotide Nucleic Acids DNA, RNA

 Recap
• Atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and a
few other elements bond together covalently
to make the biological molecules.
• Monomers (small molecules, such as
glucose) bond together to form polymers
(large chain molecules, such as complex
carbohydrates).
• The four classes of biological molecules are
carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic
acids.