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Organization
of Biologically Important Molecules
Carbohydrates:
Also
called sugars – used primarily for fuel – we burn them for energy.
Atoms:
C, H, and O
3
major types
1. Monosaccharides (simple sugars)
Examples:
glucose (blood sugar, and also called dextrose), fructose,(fruit sugar),
ribose (as in RNA), deoxyribose (found in DNA), and galactose.
2. Disaccharides (sometimes called double
sugars)
Examples: sucrose (table sugar)
and lactose (milk sugar)
Sucrose
= glucose + fructose
Lactose
= glucose + galactose
3. Polysaccharides (sometimes called complex
carbohydrates)
Examples:
starch and glycogen
Note: Many, but not all,
sugars end with the suffix -ose (example,
sucrose and glucose)
Lipids:
Also
called fats – used for cell membranes, energy storage, insulation,
etc.
Atoms
- C, H, O, and sometimes S and
N, and P.
1. fatty acids
saturated, unsaturated & polyunsaturated
2. phospholipids
phospholipids
are very important to the structure of cell membranes
3. triglycerides
4. steroids
a. cholesterol
b. estrogen
c. testosterone
Proteins:
Also
called poly-amino acids (but this is not accurate) – many functions
including enzymes, active transport mechanisms, cell structure, etc.
Atoms:
C, H, O, and N
There
are no subcategories of proteins, here are four examples:
Hemoglobin:
found in blood - 146 amino acids long
Collagen:
found in skin – 1,055 amino acids long
Insulin
– hormone secreted by the pancreas – 51 amino acids long
Elastin
– found in skin – give it the ability to stretch. With aging, you lose this and your skin
begins to sag.
There
are twenty different amino acids in the body, which combine to form many
different proteins.
Almost
all enzymes are proteins.
Key
term – “denatured”
LipoProteins
HDL -high density lipoprotein - sometimes called "the good cholesterol" -- it is not cholesterol, but rather a transport molecule made of protein and lipid.
LDL - low density lipoprotein
VLDL: very low density
lipoprotein -
Nucleic
Acids
Atoms: C, H, O, N and P
Used
for carrying genetic information from one generation to the next – they
carry the information needed to make proteins.
Nucleic
acids are made of nucleotides (phosphate, sugar, base).
There
are two major types of nucleic acid in your body:
1. DNA
(de oxy
ribo nucleic acid)
DNA is the genetic material
that is passed from
generation to generation.
2. RNA
(ribonucleic
acid)
DNA aids
in protein synthesis
All
nucleic acids have “nitrogen bases” –
DNA
contains: adenine (A), cytosine
(C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)
RNA
contains: adenine (A), cytosine
(C), guanine (G), and uracil (U)
Nucleic Acids were first
identified in the nucleus of a cell - this
fact relates to the origin of the name.
DNA is the genetic material
that moves from parents to kids. DNA
contains information for making proteins.
Extra:
Polymers and Monomers:
Proteins, polysaccharides,
and nucleic acids are all polymers with the following sub-units.
Polymer : Monomer
Protein: Amino acid
Polysaccharide: Monosaccharide
DNA: nucleotides
RNA: nucleotides
Two missing items:
Water is the most common molecule found in humans
ATP (Adenosine Tri Phosphate) is an energy molecule
found in humans – but does not fit well into the above four categories.
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