IY486

Molecular cell Biology

Theme 2 Week 6
Cellular Biomolecules
The lecture notes included in this presentation have
been adapted from the resources accompanying the
module textbooks:

Campbell, N., Urry, L., Cain, M., Wasserman,

S., Minorsky, P. and Reece, J. (2017). Biology: A
Global Approach, ePub, Global Edition,11th Edition.
England: Pearson International Content.
 Introduction to theme
 In the first session, we will cover:
- Monomers and polymers
- Carbohydrates, proteins and lipids

 In the second session:

- Introduction to nucleic acids
- Components and functions of nucleic acids
At the end of this lesson you should
be able to:
• Describe monomers and polymers
• Explain Composition and functions carbohydrates,
proteins and lipids
 Polymers
• A polymer is a long molecule consisting of
many similar or identical building blocks linked
by covalent bonds
• The repeating units that make up a polymer
are called monomers
• Carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids are
polymers
 Synthesis and break down of
polymers
• Two monomers are connected
via a dehydration reaction
- Two molecules are
covalently bonded to each
other and a water molecule
is lost

• Polymers are disassembled to

monomers by hydrolysis,
- Reverse process of the
of the dehydration
reaction
The synthesis and breakdown of
polymers (Campbell et al., 2017)
 Activity
• Watch the following video and answer the
questions found in the Activity sheet 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FgfknBZaVTI
 Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates include sugars and polymers of
sugars.
• The simplest carbohydrates are the
monosaccharides, or simple sugars
- these are the monomers from which more
complex
carbohydrates are built.
• Disaccharides consist of two monosaccharides joined
by a covalent bond.
• Carbohydrate macromolecules are polymers called
polysaccharides
 Monosaccharides
• Monosaccharides generally
have molecular formulas that
are some multiple of the unit
CH2O.
- eg: Glucose (C6H12O6)
• Sugars vary:
- in the location of their
carbonyl groups
- the length of their carbon
skeletons
- the spatial orientation of
the groups attached to
The structure and classification of some
carbon skeleton monosaccharides(Campbell et al., 2017)
 Functions
• Monosaccharides, particularly glucose, are
major nutrients for cells.
• Their carbon skeletons also serve as raw
material for the synthesis of other types of
small organic molecules
 Disaccharides
• A disaccharide consists of two monosaccharides
joined by a glycosidic linkage

Maltose
• a disaccharide formed by the linking of two molecules
of glucose
• An ingredient used in brewing beer.

Dehydration reaction in synthesis of maltose (Campbell et al., 2017)

 Disaccharides
Sucrose
• The two monomers are glucose and fructose
• Plants generally transport carbohydrates from
leaves to other non photosynthetic organs in the
form of sucrose.

Lactose
• The two monomers are glucose and galactose
• The sugar is present in milk
 Polysaccharides
• Polysaccharides are polymers with a few
hundred to a few thousand
monosaccharides joined by glycosidic
linkages.
• The architecture and function of a
polysaccharide are determined by its sugar
monomers and by the positions of its
glycosidic linkages.
 Polysaccharides

Polysaccharides of plants and animals (Campbell et al., 2017)

 Starch
• Plants store starch, as granules within
cellular structures known as plastids.
• Synthesizing starch enables the plant to
stockpile surplus glucose.
• The sugar can later be withdrawn by the
plant from this carbohydrate
 Glycogen
• Glycogen is a storage polysaccharide in
animals
• Similar to starch but has shorter chains and
is more highly branched
• Because of the shorter chains it is even
more readily hydrolysed than starch
 Cellulose
• 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 ()

Structure of starch and

cellulose (Campbell et al., 2017)
 Chitin
• Structural polysaccharide
used by arthropods to build
their exoskeletons
• Exoskeleton is made up of
chitin embedded in a layer
of proteins,
• Chitin is also found in fungi,
• Chitin is similar to cellulose,
with β linkages, except that
the glucose monomer of
chitin has a nitrogen-
Structure of the chitin monomer
containing attachment (Campbell et al., 2017)
 Fats
• Fats can be found in a lot of foods and
sometimes referred to as oils or lipids
• Fatty acids vary in length and in the number and
locations of double bonds
• Saturated fatty acids have the maximum number
of hydrogen atoms possible and no double bonds
• Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more double
bonds
• The major function of fats is energy storage
 Proteins
• Proteins are all constructed from the same
set of 20 amino acids
• The bond between amino acids is called
a peptide bond,
• A protein is a biologically functional
molecule made up of one or more
polypeptides, each folded and coiled into a
specific three-dimensional structure.
 Amino acids
• An amino acid is an
organic molecule with both
an amino group and a
carboxyl group
• The physical and chemical
properties of the side
chain determine the
unique characteristics of a
Structure of an amino acid
particular amino acid (Campbell et al., 2017)
Making a polypeptide chain

Making a polypeptide chain (Campbell et al., 2017)

 Primary protein structure
• This is the sequence
of the amino acids
• The primary structure
controls the shape
and function of the
protein so changing
just one amino acid
can have large
effects.

Primary protein structure (Campbell et al.,

2017)
 Secondary protein structure
• The long chain polypeptides
have both –NH and –C=O
groups on both sides of the
chain.
• amino acids lying close to one
another in the linear
polypeptide chain can form
hydrogen bonds with
themselves.

• This causes the polypeptides

to coil up into different shapes Secondary protein structure (Campbell et al.,
such as an α-helix and β- 2017)
sheets
 Tertiary and quaternary protein
structure
• Tertiary structure – the
overall 3D shape of a
polypeptide resulting
from interactions
between the side
chains
• Quaternary structure -
More than one
polypeptide chains can
bond together to give a Quaternary protein structure (Campbell et al.,
2017)
functional protein
 Functions
• Protein functions include:
- Acceleration of chemical reactions
- Storage
- Transport
- Cellular communications
- Defense against foreign substances.
 Lipids
• Lipids are the one class of large biological
molecules that does not include true
polymers
• Lipids are varied in form and function.
• The most biologically important lipids are
fats, phospholipids, and steroids
 Fats
• 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 Structure of a fat molecule (Campbell et al.,
2017)

• A fatty acid consists of a

carboxyl group attached to
a long carbon skeleton
 Phospholipids
• A phospholipid has a
hydrophilic (polar)
head and two
hydrophobic
(nonpolar) tails.
• Phospholipids are the
major component of
all cell membranes

The structure of a phospholipid (Campbell et

al., 2017)
 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.
 Summary
• Macromolecules are polymers, built from
monomers
• Large carbohydrates (polysaccharides), proteins
and nucleic acids are polymers
• The components of lipids vary.
• Monomers form larger molecules by dehydration
reactions.
• Polymers can disassemble by the reverse
process, hydrolysis.
 Self-study and homework
 Read the book chapter pages relevant for the next
topic.