Chapter 3
The Molecules of Cells
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3. The Molecules of Cells
BIG IDEAS
1. Introduction of Organic Compounds
2. Carbohydrates
3. Lipids
4. Proteins
5. Nucleic Acids
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3. The Molecules of Cells
Your ability to digest lactose depends upon your body chemistry
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3. The Molecules of Cells
Your ability to digest lactose depends upon your body chemistry
Lactose, the main sugar in milk.
Lactase, an enzyme that digest lactose.
In people who easily digest milk, lactose (a sugar) is broken down
by lactase (a protein), which is coded for by a gene made of DNA (a
nucleic acid). Such molecular interactions, repeated in countless
variations, drive all biological processes.
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Introduction to Organic Compounds
1. Carbon – Organic Compounds
2. Functional groups
3. Cells make large molecules with small
molecules
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3.1 Life’s molecular diversity is based on the
properties of Carbon
• Carbon is unparalleled in its ability to form large and
complex molecules, which build the structures and carry
out the functions required for life.
• Carbon-based molecules are called compounds.
• Carbon chains form the backbone of most organic
molecules. (carbon skeleton)
• Why? .
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2.5-2.8 Chemical Bonds
• Chemical bonds. ( , , )
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3.1 Life’s molecular diversity is based on the
properties of Carbon
• Molecular formula, Chemical formula (C2H3 ,C3H8)
• Structure Formula (2D)
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3.1 Life’s molecular diversity is based on the
properties of Carbon
• Isomers have the same molecular formula but different
structures.
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3.1 Life’s molecular diversity is based on the
properties of Carbon
• Isomers have the same molecular formula but different
structures.
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3.1 Life’s molecular diversity is based on the
properties of Carbon
• Hydrocarbons are composed of only carbon and hydrogen.
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3.2 A few chemical groups are key to the
function of biological molecules
• An organic compound’s properties depend on the
üsize and shape of its carbon backbone and
üatoms attached to that skeleton.
• Hydrophilic functional groups give organic molecules
specific chemical properties.
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3.2 A few chemical groups are key to the
function of biological molecules
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3.2 A few chemical groups are key to the
function of biological molecules
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3.3 Cells make large molecules from a
limited set of small molecules
• The four classes of biological molecules contain very large
molecules.
- , , and .
• They are often called macromolecules because of their
large size.
• They are also called polymers because they are made
from identical or similar building blocks strung together.
• The building blocks of polymers are called monomers.
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3.3 Cells make large molecules from a
limited set of small molecules
• Monomers are linked together to form polymers through
dehydration reactions.
• Polymers are broken apart by hydrolysis.
• These reactions are mediated by enzymes, specialized
macromolecules that speed up reactions.
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2.9 Chemical Reactions Make and Break
Chemical Bonds
• chemical reaction, breaking existing chemical bonds and
forming new ones.
• The composition of matter is changed as bonds are broken and
formed to convert reactants to products.
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Carbohydrates
4. Monosaccharides
5. Disaccharides
6. Sugar
7. Polysaccharides
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3.4 Monosaccharides
• Carbohydrates range from small sugar molecules
(monomers) to large polysaccharides.
üSugar monomers are monosaccharides.
üA monosaccharide generally has a formula that is a
multiple of CH2O and contains hydroxyl groups(-OH) and
a carbonyl group(-CO).
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3.4 Monosaccharides
• Molecular formula
• Structure Formula
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3.4 Monosaccharides
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3.5 Disaccharides
• Two monosaccharides (monomers) can bond to form a
disaccharide in a dehydration reaction
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3.6 Sugar
• Global sugar consumption per year is 24 kg per person
• The WHO recommends that only 5% of daily calories come
from added sugar. (25g per day)
• The FDA recommends that only 10% of daily calories come
from added sugar. (48g per day)
• Research supports the correlation between high sugar
intake and adverse health effects.
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3.7 Polysaccharides
• Starch and glycogen are storage polysaccharides.
• Cellulose is structural, found in plant cell walls.
• Chitin is a component of insect and crustacean and fungal
cell walls.
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3.7 Polysaccharides
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Lipids
8. Fats
9. Trans-fat
[Link]
[Link] steroids
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3.8 Fats
• Lipids are diverse hydrophobic (water-fearing) compounds
composed largely of carbon and hydrogen.
üFats (triglycerides) consist of linked
to .
üSome fatty acids contain one or more ,
forming unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids are
typical of plant oils.
üFats with the maximum number of hydrogens are called
saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids are found in
animal fats.
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3.8 Fats
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3.8 Fats
• Hydrogenated vegetable oils are unsaturated fats that have
been converted to saturated fats by adding hydrogen.
• This hydrogenation creates trans fats, which are associated
with health risks.
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3.9 Trans fats
• By the 1990s, partially hydrogenated oils were common in
countless foods.
• Recent research has shown that trans fats pose an even
greater health risk than saturated fats.
• The scientific studies establishing the risks of trans fats were
of two types.
1. In experimental controlled feeding trials, diets contained
different proportions of saturated, unsaturated, and
partially hydrogenated fats.
2. Many other scientific studies on dietary health effects are
observational.
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3.10 Phospholipids
• Phospholipids are components of cell membranes.
• Steroids include cholesterol and some hormones.
• Cholesterol is a common component in animal cell
membranes and is also the precursor for making other
steroids, including sex hormones.
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3.10 Phospholipids
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3.10 Phospholipids
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3.11 Anabolic Steroids
• Anabolic steroids are synthetic variants of the male
hormone testosterone that are abused by some athletes
with serious consequences.
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Proteins
12. Proteins – function & structure
13. Amino acids & peptide bonds
14. Protein structure
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3.12 Proteins have a wide range of
Functions and Structures
• Proteins are involved in nearly every dynamic function in
your body and are very diverse.
• Proteins function as
1. enzymes,
2. transport proteins embedded in cell membranes,
3. defensive proteins, such as antibodies,
4. signal proteins such as many hormones,
5. receptor proteins,
6. contractile proteins found within muscle cells,
7. structural proteins such as collagen, and
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3.12 Proteins have a wide range of
Functions and Structures
• Proteins are composed of differing arrangements of a
common set of just 20 amino acid monomers.
• The functions of different types of proteins depend on their
individual shapes.
• In the process of denaturation, a protein unravels, loses its
specific shape, and loses its function.
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3.13 Proteins are made from Amino Acids
linked by Peptide Bonds
• Protein diversity is based on different sequences
of , monomers that contain
üan amino group,
üa carboxyl group,
üan H atom, and
üan R group, all attached to a central carbon.
• The R groups distinguish 20 amino acids, each with specific
properties.
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3.13 Proteins are made from Amino Acids
linked by Peptide Bonds
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3.13 Proteins are made from Amino Acids
linked by Peptide Bonds
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3.13 Proteins are made from Amino Acids
linked by Peptide Bonds
• Amino acid monomers are linked together in a dehydration
reaction,
üjoining the carboxyl group of one amino acid to the
amino group of the next amino acid, and
ücreating a peptide bond.
• Additional amino acids can be added by the same process to
create a chain of amino acids called a .
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3.13 Proteins are made from Amino Acids
linked by Peptide Bonds
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3.14 A Protein’s Functional Shape Results
from Four Levels of Structure
• A protein can have four levels of structure:
1. A protein’s primary structure is the sequence of amino
acids in its polypeptide chain.
2. Its secondary structure is the coiling or folding of the
chain, stabilized by hydrogen bonds.
3. The tertiary structure is the overall three-dimensional
shape of a polypeptide, resulting from interactions among
R groups.
4. Proteins made of more than one polypeptide have
quaternary structure.
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Nucleic Acids
15. DNA and RNA
16. Epigenetics
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3.15 The Nucleic Acids DNA and RNA are
information-rich Polymers of Nucleotides
• The monomers that make up nucleic acids are nucleotides.
• Nucleotides are composed of a sugar, a phosphate group,
and a nitrogenous base.
üDNA is a double helix.
üRNA is a single polynucleotide chain.
üDNA and RNA serve as the blueprints for proteins and
thus control the life of a cell.
üDNA is the molecule of inheritance.
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3.15 The Nucleic Acids DNA and RNA are
information-rich Polymers of Nucleotides
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3.15 The Nucleic Acids DNA and RNA are
information-rich Polymers of Nucleotides
DNA- .
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3.15 The Nucleic Acids DNA and RNA are
information-rich Polymers of Nucleotides
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3.16 Lactose Tolerance Is a Recent Event in
Human Evolution
• Different mutations in DNA
have led to lactose tolerance in
several human groups whose
ancestors raised dairy cattle.
• Researchers identified three
new mutations in 43 ethnic
groups in East Africa that keep
the lactase gene permanently
turned on.
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Summary
• Organic Compounds
• Functional group
• Polymers and monomers
• Carbohydrates (glucose, starch, glycogen)
• Lipids (fatty acid, triglyceride, phospholipid, cholesterol)
• Proteins (amino acid, peptide, protein-structure/function)
• Nucleic Acids (DNA, RNA)
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