Biochemistry of the Cell

• It is the attraction between two water molecules.

  COHESION
• It is the attraction between water and other molecules.

  ADHESION
• It plays a key role in maintaining the structure and function of macromolecules and the complexes that they form

  WATER
• These are molecules that form the structure and carry out the activities of the cells.


  MACROMOLECULES
• What are the four (4) major categories of macromolecules?

  PROTEINS, NUCLEIC ACIDS, POLYSACCHARIDES, AND CERTAIN LIPIDS
• Which macromolecule includes simple sugars that function primarily as chemical energy storage and as durable building materials for biological construction?

  CARBOHYDRATES
• Carbohydrates are often called _____.

  GLYCANS
• Which bond is formed from the sharing of electrons between two non-metals?

  COVALENT BOND
• It is a property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force.

  SURFACE TENSION
• It is the movement of water within the spaces of a porous material due to the forces of adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension.

  CAPILLARY ACTION
• Glycosidic bonds join sugars together to form larger molecules.
• These are composed of two sugar units that serve primarily as readily available energy stores.


  DISACCHARIDES
• Sucrose, or table sugar, is composed of glucose and fructose. It is a major component of plant sap.
• Lactose, consisting of galactose and glucose, is present in the milk of most mammals.
• It is a disaccharide with two glucose units.


  MALTOSE
• These are sugars linked together to form small chains. These are often found covalently attached to lipids and proteins.

  OLIGOSACCHARIDES
• It is a polymer of sugar units joined by glycosidic bonds.

  POLYSACCHARIDE
• Claude Bernard is a prominent French physiologist who found out that liver tissue contains an insoluble polymer of glucose named glycogen.
• It is a branched polymer containing only one type of monomer — glucose. It serves as a storehouse of surplus chemical energy in most animals.

  GLYCOGEN
• It is a polymer of glucose where the surplus chemical energy of most plants is stored.

  STARCH
• Starch is a mixture of two different polymers: amylose and amylopectin.
• It is the major component of plant cell walls and consists solely of glucose monomers.

  CELLULOSE
• It is an unbranched polymer of the sugar N-acetylglucosamine usually found in the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi.

  CHITIN
• Unlike other polysaccharides, these have the structure -A-B-A-B- where A and B represent two different sugars.

  GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS
• These are a diverse group of nonpolar biological molecules whose common properties are the ability to dissolve in organic solvents but insoluble in water.

  LIPIDS
• These are long, unbranched hydrocarbon chains with a single carboxyl group group at one end.

  FATS or FATTY ACIDS
• The two ends of a fatty acid molecules have different properties. The hydrocarbon chain is hydrophobic while the carboxyl group is hydrophilic.
• Saturated fats lack double bonds while unsaturated fatty acids have double bonds.
• These are fats that are liquid at room temperature.

  OILS
• A phospholipid is an amphipathic molecule which means it has both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic component.
• These are built around a characteristic four-ringed hydrocarbon skeleton.


  STEROIDS
• It is one of the most important steroids. It is a component of animal cell membranes and a precursor for the synthesis of a number of steroid hormones, such as testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen.

  CHOLESTEROL
• These are the macromolecules that carry out virtually all of a cell’s activities; they are the molecular tools and machines that make things happen.

  PROTEINS
• It is a protein function where it vastly accelerates the rate of metabolic reactions.

  PROTEIN AS ENZYME
• It is a protein function where proteins provide mechanical support both within cells and outside their perimeters.

  PROTEINS AS STRUCTURAL CABLES
• It is a protein function responsible for growth factors, and gene activators, proteins perform a wide variety of regulatory functions.

  PROTEINS AS HORMONES
• It is a function where proteins determine what a cell reacts to and what types of substances enter or leave the cell.

  PROTEINS AS MEMBRANE RECEPTORS AND TRANSPORTERS
• It is a protein function where proteins constitute the machinery for biological movements.

  PROTEINS AS CONTRACTILE FILAMENTS
• It is a protein function in which proteins serve as toxins, form blood clots, absorb or refract light, and transport substances from one part of the body to another.

  PROTEINS AS ANTIBODIES
• With the exception of glycine, the α-carbon of amino acids bonds to four different groups so that each amino acid can exist in either a D or an L form.