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Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially mean “big molecules” as the word macro means large. The functions of these macromolecules play a vital role in maintaining a balanced internal environment. If you were to look at the nutrition label of whole milk, what main items stick out? You may have noticed the calories, fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates and protein. Three of the above listed items are in fact macromolecules. Fat and cholesterol are both in the category of lipids, and both carbohydrates and proteins are both categories of macromolecules. Macromolecules have 4 categories 1. Carbohydrates 2. Lipids 3. Proteins 4. Nucleic Acids Macromolecules are basically a long-chain of repeating structure. Think of it as lego-blocks that can be put together to make one large structure. The single building blocks are called “monomers”, while the combination of many lego blocks are called polymers. Let’s begin by looking at carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are made up of sugar molecules. There are many kinds of sugar molecules. The sugar that we eat is called sucrose. The sugar found in milk is lactose, and the main sugar molecule that is found in both animal and plant organisms are called glucose. Notice they all have an ending of –ose. Glucose has the basic chemical structure of the following: There are 6 carbon atoms, 12 hydrogen atoms and 6 oxygen atoms. This gives the basic chemical formula of C 6 H 12 O 6. The name used in carbohydrates is called saccharide. If there is just one saccharide (sugar molecule), it is called monosaccharide. If there are two, disaccharide, three for trisaccharide. Any sugar that has two or more could be called polysaccharide. Polysaccharide is mostly used if the sugar molecules are found in a longer chain and is not used for 2 sugars connected to each other.

Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

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Page 1: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

IntroductiontoMacromolecules

Macromoleculesareasetofmoleculesthatarefoundinlivingorganisms.Macromoleculesessentiallymean“bigmolecules”asthewordmacromeanslarge.Thefunctionsofthesemacromoleculesplayavitalroleinmaintainingabalancedinternalenvironment.

Ifyouweretolookatthenutritionlabelofwholemilk,whatmainitemsstickout?

Youmayhavenoticedthecalories,fat,cholesterol,carbohydratesandprotein.

Threeoftheabovelisteditemsareinfactmacromolecules.

Fatandcholesterolarebothinthecategoryoflipids,andbothcarbohydratesandproteinsarebothcategoriesofmacromolecules.

Macromoleculeshave4categories

1. Carbohydrates2. Lipids3. Proteins4. NucleicAcids

Macromoleculesarebasicallyalong-chainofrepeatingstructure.Thinkofitaslego-blocksthatcanbeputtogethertomakeonelargestructure.Thesinglebuildingblocksarecalled“monomers”,whilethecombinationofmanylegoblocksarecalledpolymers.

Let’sbeginbylookingatcarbohydrates:

Carbohydratesaremadeupofsugarmolecules.Therearemanykindsofsugarmolecules.Thesugarthatweeatiscalledsucrose.Thesugarfoundinmilkislactose,andthemainsugarmoleculethatisfoundinbothanimalandplantorganismsarecalledglucose.Noticetheyallhaveanendingof–ose.

Glucosehasthebasicchemicalstructureofthefollowing:

Thereare6carbonatoms,12hydrogenatomsand6oxygenatoms.ThisgivesthebasicchemicalformulaofC6H12O6.

Thenameusedincarbohydratesiscalledsaccharide.Ifthereisjustonesaccharide(sugarmolecule),itiscalledmonosaccharide.Iftherearetwo,disaccharide,threefortrisaccharide.Anysugarthathastwoormorecouldbecalledpolysaccharide.Polysaccharideismostlyusedifthesugarmoleculesarefoundinalongerchainandisnotusedfor2sugarsconnectedtoeachother.

Page 2: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

Whenchainsofglucoseareformedbylinkingmanyglucosemoleculestogether,wegetsomethingcalledcellulose,inplants,orglycogen,inanimals.

Celluloseprovidesthestructureforplants(suchasstems,andleaves).

Glycogenontheotherhandisfoundinanimalsandisusedasenergystorage.Animalscanbreakdownthechainsofglucosetogetindividualglucosemoleculestousethemasenergy.

Page 3: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

Starchisanotherformofpolysaccharideswhereglucosechainsarelinkedtogether.Thedifferencebetweenglycogen,starchandcelluloseisduetohowtheglucosemoleculesarelinkedtogetherinthechemicalposition.Butatthistime,wewillfocusonthepolysaccharidesinsteadofthechemicalcomposition.Starchisfoundinplantsandisusedforenergystorage.Potatoesarerichinstarchandwhenweeatpotatoes,wearebreakingdownthestarchintosingleglucosemolecules.

Disaccharides(twosugarmoleculeslinkedtogether)

Othermorecomplicatedsugarscanbeformedbylinkingglucosemoleculestogether.

Disaccharidessuchassucrose(thesugarthatgivesthesweettaste)isformedbyconnectingaglucosemoleculewithafructose,whileamaltosesugariswhentwoglucosemoleculescombinedtogether.Lastly,lactose(thesugarthatcanmakesomepeople’sstomachupset)iswhenagalactoseandaglucoseislinkedtogether.

Disaccharidesarenotpolymersinthesensethattheydonotlinktogethertoformlargemolecules.Disaccharidesaresimplytwosugarmoleculescombinedintoonetomakeanotherformofasugar.

Usethelistonthenextpagetoseethedifferencebetweeneachofthem.

Notice how the 3 different carbohydrate polymers are made from the same glucose molecule but linked together in a different orientation

Page 4: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

Alistofmonosaccharides,disaccharidesandpolysaccharides:

Page 5: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

Lipids

Lipidsareessentiallyfatsofthebody.Lipidshowever,arenotconsideredasapolymer(repeatingsinglestructure).Lipidsformmanyimportantmoleculesfoundinourbodiessuchashormones,cholesterolandphospholipids.Thebasicstructureofafatmoleculehasamoleculecalledglycerolcombinedwith3fattyacidchains.Thefattyacidchainsarelongchainsofcarbonandhydrogenatomslinkedtogether.Themainfunctionoflipidisenergystorage.Otherfunctionsincludesendingsignalsaroundthebodywithhormones.

Ifyoulookatthelabelontheright,youwillnoticethatthereis“SaturatedFat”andTransfat.Basically,fatmoleculecanbebrokendowninto3types:Saturated,unsaturatedandtransfat.

Saturatedfatiswhenthefattyacidchain(thelongchain)hasjustsinglebonds(SforsaturatedandSforsinglebonds)whileunsaturatedfathasdoublebondsbetweenthecarbonatoms.Thisdoesn’tseemveryimportantbutthebondingplaysanimportantrole.Byhavingjustsinglebonds,thefatmoleculescanactuallypackmore,andformamorecondensestructure.Animalfatismadeupofsaturatedfat.Unsaturatedfathasadoublebondinthefattyacidchain,soitwillnot“pack”asclosebecauseoftheconfigurationsoyourbodycanprocessiteasier.

Transfatisanothertypeoffatanditiswhatitisclassifiedas“badfat”.Transfatisformedbyanotherdoublebondbutinanotherconfiguration.

Notice the single double bond on the fatty acid chain can cause it to become an unsaturated fat

Page 6: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

Proteins:

Proteinsareimportantmoleculesthatmakeupatleast50%ofdrycellmass.Thefunctionsofproteinsarestructure,signaling(sendingsignals),protection(defense),carryoutchemicalreactions,transport,movement,andstorage.Proteinsaremadeupofmanysinglemoleculescalledaminoacidsthatarelinkedtogethersimilartocarbohydrates.Thereare20aminoacidsthatmakeupproteinsandtheyarelinkedtogetherby“Peptidebond”.Peptidebondisalinkagethatconnectstwoaminoacidstogetherandcanbelinkedwith1000sofotheraminoacids.

20AminoAcids

The peptide bond links the amino acid molecules together

Page 7: Introduction to Macromolecules - sciyeung.com€¦ · Introduction to Macromolecules Macromolecules are a set of molecules that are found in living organisms. Macromolecules essentially

Nucleicacids

Nucleicacidsmakeupthegeneticmaterialoflivingorganisms.Itcanmakeupdeoxyribonucleicacids(DNA),orribonucleicacids(RNA).Thebasicstructureofnucleicacidsiscomposedofsimplelinkageofnucleotides.ThenucleotideslinktogetherinlongchainsformingRNAorDNA.Individualnucleotidesareformedby3components,aribose(5carbonsugar)+nitrogenousbase+phosphatemolecule.ThevariationsofRNAandDNAcomefromthenitrogenousbasesthatformthenucleotides.Therearefourdifferentkinds,adenine(A),cytosine(C),guanine(G),andthymine(T).InorderforDNAtoformadoublehelix,hydrogenbondslinkneighboringnitrogenousbasestogether.

DNA’sdoublehelixiswhenhydrogenbondsformbetweenadjacentnitrogenousbases.

Basic nucleotide structure with a sugar base, phosphate group and a nitrogenous base

DNA is attached together by hydrogen bond between the nitrogenous bases