01 Nucleic Acids

Biomacromolecule

A large organic molecule composed of smaller units.

Polymer

A large molecule composed of a chain of smaller molecules called monomers.

Monomer

The smaller building blocks of a polymer.

Subunit → Biomacromolecule Relationships

Glycerol and fatty acids - Lipids
Nucleotides - nucleic acids
monosaccharides - polysaccharides 
amino acids - proteins

What is a protein

Proteins, also known as polypeptides, are one of the four biomacromolecules. They are large, complex structures that are crucial for the functioning of all living organisms.

Proteome

Refers to all the proteins that are found within a cell or that can be expressed by the cell.

what is an Amino Acid

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, composed of a central carbon atom, a carboxyl group, an amino group, an R group, and a hydrogen atom.

Where are amino acids polymerised

Amino acids are polymerised at the ribosome in the process of translation, forming peptide bonds and producing water.

Primary Structure

refers to the order or sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.

Secondary Structure

occurs when amino acids form hydrogen bonds with each other, causing the polypeptide chain to fold and coil.

Alpha Helix Structure

right-handed spiraling of the polypeptide chain held together by hydrogen bonds.

Tertiary Structure

refers to the overall shape of the entire protein, largely determining its function.

Tertiary Structure Folding

Polypeptides are folded into their three-dimensional shape by chaperone proteins, held in position by various bonds such as hydrogen bonds and disulphide bonds.

Tertiary Structure Orientation

Hydrophobic non-polar amino acid side chains usually point toward the interior of the protein, while hydrophilic polar side chains usually point toward the exterior.

Quaternary Structure

Some proteins have a quaternary structure, which means they have more than one polypeptide chain, each with its own primary, secondary, and tertiary structure.

Polypeptide

A polypeptide is a single chain of amino acid, whereas a protein is a functional unit made up of one or more polypeptides.

Prosthetic

Many proteins have non-amino acid groups, called prosthetics, added to them, such as glycoproteins and lipoproteins.

Nucleotide

Nucleotides are the monomers that make up nucleic acids, composed of a pentose sugar, a nitrogenous base, and one or more phosphate groups.

Nitrogen Bases

There are five different nitrogen bases: Guanine (G) and Adenine (A) are purines; Cytosine (C), Thymine (T), and Uracil (U) are pyrimidines.

Polynucleotide

A polynucleotide consists of several nucleotides joined together by strong covalent phosphodiester bonds.

Sugar Phosphate Backbone

consists of the strong alternating chain of pentose sugars and phosphate groups joined through phosphodiester bonds, forming the structural framework of nucleic acids.

Phosphodiester Bond

A type of covalent bonds that is crucial for life. They are responsible for joining nucleotides together as well as forming the sugar-phosphate backbone of nucleic acids by joining the carbon 3' and the phosphate group on carbon 5’.

Covalent Bond

Bonds that form the backbone of all organic molecules, such as bonding nucleotides together between the phosphate group and the pentose sugar.

Hydrogen Bonding

Bonds that exist between complementary nitrogenous bases and join two strands of nucleic acids together.

Peptide Bond

a form of covalent bonding that joins amino acids together to form a protein.

Strength of Bonds

Hydrogen bonds are considered weak compared to the strong covalent bonds including phosphodiester and peptide bonds.

Ribose

Ribose is the pentose sugar in RNA.

Deoxyribose

Deoxyribose is the pentose sugar in DNA, differing from ribose by the absence of a hydroxyl group on the 2' carbon.

RNA

Ribonucleic acid is a single strand of nucleotides that primarily functions in the synthesis of proteins.

RNA Polymerisation

RNA is built by RNA polymerase, which moves along the strand in the 5' to 3' direction, adding new nucleotides.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a polymer of nucleotides composed of two polynucleotide chains that run antiparallel to each other.