Chapter 5: The Structure and Function of Macromolecules

Terms	Definitions
adenine
amino acid
amylopectin
amylose	ignore bars, what is large helical structure? Not starch, almost though.
cellulose
chitin	ignore bars, name of entire structure?
cholesterol
cytosine
dehydration reaction
deoxyribose
ester
estrogen
fructose
glucose
glycerol
glycogen
glycosidic linkage	type of linkage, not the dehydration reaction
guanine
lactose
maltose
nitrogenous bases
peptide bond
phospholipid
polyunsaturated fatty acid
purines
pyrimidines
ribose
saturated fatty acid
starch
sucrose
testosterone
thymine
triacylglycerol
unsaturated fatty acid
macromolecules	The critically important large molecules of life; carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids.
polymer	Long chain like molecules consisting of many similar or identical building blocks linked by covalent bonds.
monomer	The repeating units that serve as a building block of polymers. Some have functions on their own.
condensation reaction	A bond created when two molecules bond together and as a result, lose part of their original composition. The new molecule "condenses" from the two that join.
dehydration reaction	A bond created when two molecules bond together and as a result, a water molecule is freed. A hydroxyl group is necessary for this reaction to occur in biological systems. A hydroxyl group is lost by one molecule, while a hydrogen is lost by the other.
enzymes	Specialized macromolecules that speed up chemical reactions in cells. They consist of amino acids.
hydrolysis	The reverse of a dehydration reaction. This disassembles polymers by breaking the link between monomers with a water molecule. One molecule gains a hydrogen atom, while the other gains a hydroxyl.
carbohydrates	Sugars and sugar polymers.
monosaccharides	Generally have structures that are a multiple of CH2O. Can be considered polysaccharide monomers. Contain a carbonyl group and multiple hydroxyls.
aldose	Sugar with carbonyl group at end of molecule. Aldehyde sugar.
ketose	Sugar with carbonyl group in middle of molecule. Ketone sugar.
hexose	Glucose, fructose, and other sugars that contain 6 carbons.
triose	Sugars that contain 3 carbons.
pentose	Sugars that contain 5 carbons.
disaccharide	Consist of two monosaccharides joined by a glycosidic linkage.
glycosidic linkage	A covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction.
polysaccharides	Macromolecule polymers with a few hundred to a few thousand monomers. Can serve as storage material and building material. Their function is determined by the sugar monomers involved and the way they are covalently bonded to each other.
starch	A polymer of glucose monomers. Organisms save them as energy storage.
amylose	Polymer of glucose monomers. Single un-branched chains of starch, found within the chloroplasts of plants.
amylopectin	Polymer of glucose monomers. Slightly branched starch polymers.
glycogen	Heavily branched starch polymers. Stored in vertebrate liver and muscle cells. An emergency stash of energy that depletes rapidly, it can not sustain an organism for long and must be replenished in about a day by eating.
cellulose	Polysaccharide that is main component of strong plant cell walls. The most abundant organic material on Earth. It is made of glucose, but the glycosidic linkages differ from starch. The links are in the glucose beta configuration, and every other molecule is flipped in relation to the previous.
chitin	The carbohydrate used as exoskeleton construction materials. Is normally leathery, but becomes hardened by calcium carbonate.
microfibril	Starch is a helical chain, cellulose is a straight chain. Cellulose isn't branched, and some hydroxyl groups on its glucose monomers are free to hydrogen bond.
lipids	Macromolecules that include fats, phospholipids, and steroids.
fat	A large molecule assembled of glycerol and fatty acids. A form of stored energy, and provides more energy per part than starch. Many mobile organisms that have a greater need to store energy, have this.
glycerol	A three carboned molecule, each attached to a hydroxyl group.
fatty acid	A long chain hydrocarbon, usually 16-18 carbons in length. One end is a carboxyl group. Hydrophobic.
ester	a bond between a hydroxyl group and a carboxyl group.
triacylglycerol	A molecule in which a glycerol molecule is attached to three fatty acids through ester linkages.
saturated fatty acid	A fatty acid in which each carbon is attached to the maximum number of hydrogen atoms as possible. Organisms that require higher body temperatures usually have these.
unsaturated fatty acid	has one or more carbon double bonds, effectively reducing the amount of hydrogen in the fatty acid. Plants, fish, and other lower temperature organisms often contain these.
hydrogenated vegetable oils	Vegetable oil that has been chemically altered by the addition of hydrogen atoms, changing the temperature at which the molecule solidifies.
trans fat	A trans isomer of unsaturated fatty acid that can sometimes be created during hydrogenation.
adipose cells	Cells that store fats in animals. The cells swell and shrink when fat is added or removed.
phospholipids	Essential to cells, as they make up cell membranes. Similar to a fat molecule, but one of the glycerols hydroxyl group attaches to a phosphate, which attaches to another hydrophilic group. The hydrophilic cells face outward, while the hydrophobic "tails" face each other.
steroids	Many hormones including cholesterol, which consist of four infused carbon rings. They vary based on the structure and groups attached to these rings.
cholesterol	A common component of animal cell membranes, and also the precursor from which other steroids are synthesized.
proteins	Nearly every dynamic function of humanity is dependent upon them. Account for 50% of most cells dry mass.
support, storage, transport, defense, hormonal, enzymatic, receptor, movement	Eight functions of proteins.
enzymatic proteins	Protein type; selective acceleration of chemical reactions.
structural proteins	Protein type; provide support for the way an organism is built. Includes hair, horns, feathers, and even a spiders silk.
storage proteins	Protein type; store amino acids. Includes ovalbumin and casein(milk protein).
transport proteins	Protein type; moves biological material from one area to another. Hemoglobin is an example.
hormonal proteins	Protein type; coordinate an organisms activities. Includes insulin.
receptor proteins	Protein type; response of cell to chemical stimuli. Nerve cells detecting touch.
defensive proteins	Protein type; protection against illness and disease. Antibodies that fight off foreign invaders.
contractile and motor proteins	Protein type; responsible for the contractions of muscle. Some are responsible for the undulations of cilia and flagella organelles.
enzymes	Proteins that behave as catalysts, selectively speeding chemical reactions.
catalysts	Chemical agents that selectively speed or slow down a chemical reaction without being consumed.
polypeptides	Polymers of amino acids composed commonly from 20 different amino acids.
protein	Consists of one or more polypeptide, folded and coiled into a specific three dimensional structure.
amino acid	Organic molecules containing both a carboxyl and an amino group. The asymmetric carbon is attached to a variable side chain that determines the function of the molecule.
glycine	The amino acid that lacks an asymmetric carbon, as it has a single hydrogen side chain.
substrate	The substance the enzyme works with
peptide bond	The joining of an amino group and a carboxyl group, resulting in a dehydration reaction. This repeated process forms a polypeptide.
primary structure	Protein structure; the specific polypeptide sequence of a protein.
secondary structure	Protein structure; the coils and folds caused by polypeptide(not side chain) hydrogen bonding that contribute to a proteins overall structure.
alpha helix	A secondary structure where every fourth amino acid is hydrogen bonded to one another.
beta pleated sheet	A secondary structure in which two or more regions of a polypeptide are side by side, hydrogen bonding. Makes up majority shape of a globular protein.
tertiary structure	Protein structure; the overall shape of a polypeptide involving interactions that take place between the side chains of the polypeptide.
hydrophobic interaction	A tertiary structure in which polar atoms in a polypeptide chain are attracted to the outside of the protein, which in turn faces the non-polar atoms inward towards one another. Van der Waals interactions help hold these non-polar atoms together.
disulfide bridges	A tertiary structure in which two cystein monomers fold the polypeptide and bond to one another due to "cross-linking" of sulfhydryl groups.
hydrogen and ionic bonds	A tertiary structure that includes polypeptide side chains. What two types of bonds?
quaternary structure	Protein structure; the overall protein structure that results from the aggregate of polypeptide chains. Can consist of multiple, unique polypeptide chains, or fibrous, helical structures.
heme	A quaternary structure, an iron atom contained in an organic ring.
denaturation	When a protein unravels and loses its native shape, because of an alteration in its environment.
chaperonins	Proteins that assist in the proper folding of other proteins, but do not contribute to a proteins overall structure. They simply remove the protein from potentially harmful environments.
polypeptide misfolding	Can be a serious problem within cells. It is often associated with alzheimers and parkinson's disease.
x-ray crystallography	Method used to discover 3-D structure of hemoglobin in 1959.
gene	The amino acid sequence of a polypeptide is programmed by this unit of inheritance.
nucleic acids	DNA and RNA are?
deoxyribonucleic acid	The only known molecule that provides directions for its own replication. Directs RNA synthesis. The genetic material that organisms inherit from their parents.
ribonucleic acid	Interacts with a cells protein synthesizing machinery to direct production of a polypeptide.
ribosomes	The sites of protein synthesis. In a eukaryotic cell, they are contained within the cytoplasm.
polynucleotides	Polymers of nucleotide monomers.
nucleotides	Consist of three parts: a phosphate group, a pentose, and a nitrogenous base.
nucleosides	The portion of a nucleotide containing the sugar and the nitrogenous base.
pyrimidines	Has a six-membered ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms. Cytosine(C), thymine(T) and uracil(U).
purines	Has a six-membered ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms. fused to a five-membered ring. Adenine(A) and guanine(G).
adenine(A), guanine(G) and cytosine(C)	3 nitrogenous bases found in both DNA and RNA.
thymine(T)	Nitrogenous base found only in DNA.
uracil(U)	Nitrogenous base found only in RNA.
ribose	One of the two sugars attached to the nitrogenous base and phosphate group of a nucleotide. Has an oxygen in the second carbon atom.
deoxyribose	One of the two sugars attached to the nitrogenous base and phosphate group of a nucleotide. Lacks an oxygen in the second carbon atom.
phosphodiester linkage	A phosphate group attached to two sugars with a link in the 5' carbon of one and a link with the 3' carbon hydroxyl group of the other.
double helix	The imaginary axis of a DNA molecule.
James Watson and Francis Crick	The two men that first proposed the double helix as the three dimensional construct of a DNA molecule at Cambridge University in 1953.
antiparallel	The way in which two sugar phosphate backbones of DNA run in opposite directions of each other, much like the divided lanes of a highway.
hydrogen bonds	The bonds that hold together base pairs of two DNA strands in the middle.
van der Waals bonds	The bonds that hold stacked bases together in a DNA molecule.
adenine(A)	Nitrogenous base that is complementary to thymine(T) and uracil(U).
thymine(T)	Nitrogenous base that is complementary to adenine(a) in DNA.
guanine(G)	Nitrogenous base that is complementary to cytosine(C).
cytosine(C)	Nitrogenous base that is complementary to guanine(G).
complementary	The way in which the nitrogenous bases of two strands of DNA are indicative of one another.
alpha glucose	Alpha or beta glucose?
beta glucose	Alpha or beta glucose?
alpha helix
beta pleated sheet
maltose	Glucose+glucose=?
sucrose	Glucose+fructose=?
lactose	Glucose+galactose=?
uracil(U)	Nitrogenous base complementary to adenine(A) in RNA.