BIO 112


Unicellular - an organism with 1 cell (bacteria, yeast) 

Multicellular- an organism with many cells (Fugi, plants, animals) 


Eukaryotic cells (membrane bound organells) 

  • DNA in eukaryotic cells is found inside the nucleus

  • Have a nucleus 

  • Extensive internal array of membranes 

  • These membranes define compartments called organelles 

  • Multiple linear chromosomes 

  • Transcription and translation are separated 

  • Transcription in the nucleus 

  • Later translation takes place in the cytoplasm 

  • Genome size 3 Mb to 670,000

  • Most of the genome consists of sequences that don’t code for proteins.

  • Cytosol is the region inside the cell and outside of the organelles 


Prokaryotic cells (single plasma membrane surrounding the cell) 

  •  DNA in prokaryotic cells is located in the cytoplasm

  • Lack a nucleus 

  • Genetic material is concentrated in the nucleoid 

  • Have a wall surrounding the cell membrane 

  • 1-2 micrometers 

  • Genome size 0.5 - 10 mb

  • High ratio of surface area to volume 

  • Most of the genome consists of protein coding genes.

  • Absorbed nutrients from environment

  •  One circular chromosome 

  • Translation occurs as soon as the mRNA is transcribed from the DNA template 

  • Some species of prokaryotes have adapted to growth at extreme temperatures >80C.

  • Mostly unicellular but some multicellular forms do occur. 

  • Globally, biomass of prokaryotes greatly exceeds that of animals

  • Prokaryotes include bacteria and archaea.


Primary functions of the cell membrane 

  • To separate the internal environment of the cell from the external environment. 

  • To control the movement of material between the interior of the cell and the external environment. 


Self replicating cells 

  • Set of instructions (DNA) 

  • Gather materials / energy sources (Proteins) 

  • Make parts 

  • Transform energy 

  • Pass on instructions to new replicates 

  • Mechanisms to read instructions 

  • Have a container to keep everything together 


Cell theory 

  • All organisms are made of cells 

  • The cell is the fundamental unit of life 

  • Cells come from pre-existing cells 

&

  • (There is not life without cells 

  • The cell is the smallest unit of life)



Endosymbiont theory   

  • All cells are thought to have evolved from a universal ancestor cell (LUCA- Last universal common ancestor - 3.5 to 3.8 M years ago)

  • Eukaryotes are thought to have evolved from one cell engulfing another cell (endosymbiont) 


Found in all cells 

  • Ribosomes.

  • Cytosol.

  • Plasma Membrane. 


1oo micrometers in one millimeter

One megabase is 1,000,000 bases

 One gigabase is 1,000,000,000 bases 


Pre reading quiz 

The octet rule - the tendency for an atom, other than hydrogen, to form covalent bonds with other atoms until its valence shell holds eight electrons. 


Polar covalent bonds 

  • Polar covalent bonds occur between atoms that differ in electronegativity 

  • Differences in electronegativity result in unequal sharing of electrons between atoms 

  • The polarity of a polar covalent bond increases as the difference in electronegativity increases

The covalent bond between two amino acids in a protein is called a peptide bond 


In DNA and RNA the bond between adjacent nucleotides is known as a phosphodiester bond

Molecules like DNA, RNA, proteins and polysaccharides have directionality or polarity because: the molecules contain polar covalent bonds 


Proteins, nucleic acids and polysaccharides are polymers composed of smaller units of defined structure. Lipids are chemically diverse molecules that share the property of: 

being hydrophobic


What properties of phospholipids determine if they will form micelles or bilayers when mixed with water?- The hydrophilicity of the phosphate-containing headgroup


Micelles - a single layer of lipid monomers 

Bilayers - 2 sheets of lipid monomers 


Proteins and lipids can freely move laterally within the bilayer.

Hydrophobic transmembrane regions of proteins are embedded in the fatty acid tails of the lipid bilayer.


Hydrophobic - nonpolar 

Hydrophilic - polar 

Amphipathic - a molecule with both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components 

Phospholipid- an amphipathic molecule with a hydrophilic head group and hydrophobic fatty acid tails

Bilayer self assembly- spontaneous arrangement of lipids driven by the hydrophobic effect (tails inwards and heads towards the water)  The fluid mosaic model of biological membranes is best described as the lipids and proteins form a dynamic two-dimensional fluid held together by intermolecular non-covalent links.


If bilayer-forming phospholipids are mixed with a hydrophilic dye, they form liposomes suspended in the dye. What will happen to the dye once the liposomes are formed?

  • The dye will interact with the phospholipid heads, surround the liposome, and fill the centre of the liposome.

The property of phospholipids that drives bilayer formation for cellular membranes are that they are amphipathic, with both hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails.

Endosymbiosis 

  • Certain organelles within eukaryotic cells closely resemble engulfed prokaryotic cells 

  • Chloroplasts and mitochondria are thought to have involved from an endosymbiont because they are 

  • 1. Surrounded by 2 membranes 

  • 2. Have inner membranes with structures that closely resemble certain prokaryotic cells 

  • 3. Contain circular genomes that code for genes that are very similar to bacterial genes 

Polars bonds - atoms with 

  • O-H

  • N-H

  • S-H (weaker)

  • C-O

  • O-P

Nonpolar bonds- atoms with 

  • C-H

  • C-C

A major macromolecule in cells is DNA 

Monomers that make up a macromolecule include amino acids, fatty acid chain and glucose 

4 major macromolecules are 

  • Proteins (in the cell membrane, transporter. Enzymes in the cytoplasm or Ribosomes as Organelles)

  • Lipids 

  • Carbohydrates ( cell walls - energy)

  • Nucleic acids ( DNA- inside the nucleus and RNA in the ribosomes or travelling to the ribosomes) 

An organic molecule contains at least one C-H bonds (carbon to hydrogen bond) 

There is directionality in all 3 of the below bonding 

In polypeptide (protein) chains the amino group always bonds to the carboxyl group 

For Nucleic acids the Phosphate group bonds to the deoxyribose sugar group on the 3’ carbon 

For carbohydrates the macromolecule is called carbohydrates but the monomers are called monosaccharides (simple sugars). The 4’ end of the incoming monomer is added to the 1’ end of the original monosaccharide 

Lipids polymerize (bond) differently than others

Lipids do not have the same directionality as the above because they have heads and tails 

Lipids (triacylglycerol) are the macromolecule but the monomer is a fatty acid, the bond that turns 2 fatty acids into a lipid is called an ester bond

Polymers of nucleic acids, proteins and carbohydrates exhibit polarity. That means they have a directionality to them and are asymmetric. Polymer has two chemically distinct ends. 

Amino group is referred to as the N terminus (N). The Carboxyl group is referred to as the C group. 

N -aa-aa C is normally how it's written (best answer)  but if it's written C-aa-aa-N that is acceptable since in life the chain flips around and moves. 

The reason it has such directionality and polarity is so they can bond and elongate in the correct way. The amino and carboxyl groups will not flip around in the middle of the chain at random, they will not bond. 

Nucleic acid 

DNA monomers = deoxyribonucleotides

RNA monomers= ribonucleotides  

Phosphate group (5’ carbon) bonds to the 3’ carbon of the first monomer (phosphodiester bond) 

Do not confuse directionality and polarity with bond polarity. Polar bonds are electronegativity differences between bonded atoms. 

Carbohydrates 

Monomers = glucose 

4 ‘ carbons of a new glucose molecule is added to the 1 ‘ carbon (primary) of the first monomer 

Lipids / triacylglycerol (different than other macromolecules! They don't bond with directionality) 

One of more fatty acids tail is added to the head group with an ester bond 

Membrane lipids - phospholipids - Glycerophospholipids or Sphingolipids 

Glycerophospholipids

Backbone - glycerol 

Nonpolar tails - fatty acids 

Polar head group - PO4 and alcohol 

Hydrophilic vs hydrophobic 

Hydrophilic- Interact with water 

-Pollar, charged, ionic interactions, make H bonds, Hydrophilic properties 

Hydrophobic - 

weak or little interactions with water 

Typically nonpolar bonds 

Phospholipids are amphipathic 

Amphipathic - Phospholipids have Hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties 

Phospholipids 

Head (Polar head group + Glycerol backbone) is hydrophilic 

Tails (fatty acids)  are hydrophobic 

Kink in the chain is due to double bonds 

Macromolecular assembly (mostly non covalent bonds) 

Macromolecules (polymers) assemble into functional structures such as 

  • Proteins (folded) (most proteins fold but not all) 

  • DNA double helix 

  • Lipid bilayers 

Lipids can spontaneously form a membrane so

  • They can repair 

  • During replication they need to form a bilayer 

Monomers to polymers (polymerization) uses covalent bonds. Polymers to functional structures (macromolecular assembly) use mostly non covalent bonds 

Water is the “matrix of life” 

Makes up 70% of cell mass 

Universal solvent for the cell 

 PD-PD (Permanent dipole) bond would be the noncovalent bonds between two water molecules 

  •  bond would be happening between water and a lipid head group 

In addition to Carbon and Hydrogen, the major bioelements found in Nucleic Acids are 

  • oxygen 

  • nitrogen

  • phosphorus

In addition to Carbon and Hydrogen, the major bioelements found in Proteins are:

  • Nitrogen 

  • oxygen 

  • sulfur 

In addition to Carbon and Hydrogen, the major bioelements found in Lipids are:

  • Nitrogen 

  • sulfur 

  • phosphorus 

In addition to Carbon and Hydrogen, the major bioelements found in Carbohydrates are:

  • Oxygen 


Osmosis- When water moves into an area of high solute concentration until it is counteracted by a force such as a cell wall

The characteristics that would increase the ability of a molecule to diffuse across a lipid bilayer include: 

No ionic charge

Small size

Few polar functional groups

the primary driver for active transport across biological membranes is:

  • The molecule transported is moving from an area of lower concentration to higher concentration, which is energetically unfavourable.

    Lipids 

    Phospholipids are amphipathic 

    -polar heads 

    -Nonpolar tails 

    Lipids tails tun into lipid polymers (phospholipids turns into membranes 

    This process is spontaneous in water 

    Phospholipids interact via non covalent interactions in a bilayer 

    Membrane formation is spontaneous due to thermodynamics principles and the hydrophobic effect 

    Macromolecular assembly 

    The process of molecules, or complexes of molecules forming a particular three dimensional conformation or structure as a result of 

    • Intramolecular interaction (covalent, ionic, hydrophobic) 

    • Intermolecular interaction (non-covalent) 

    • Interaction with surrounding water molecules 

    Thermodynamics 

    • A study of system stability 

    • A field of chemistry that deals with the likelihood of reactions occurring in a system 

    • System stability depends on delta G = delta H (enthalpy) + (-Tdelta S(Entropy)) 

    • System stability depends on enthalpy ( measures how strongly bonded a system is) 

    • System stability depends on Entropy ( measures the freedom to move of components of a system) 

    • Energy favorable process = spontaneous 

    • (likely to happen in this direction - reaction moved from less stable to more stable) 

    • Energetically unfavorable process = not spontaneous 

    • (requires energy input to happen in this direction, ration moved from more stable to less stable) 

    Note: favorability /spontaneity does not tell you about reaction speed or rate.

    Thermochemistry 

    • Study of heat energy associated with chemical reactions 


    Phosolipid assembly in water is 

    • Spontaneous 

    • Energetically favorable 

    • Delta G is less than zero (ΔG <0)

    • System moves from less stable to more stable 

    Lipid bilayer formation 

    • Both enthalpy and entropy contribute to bilayer stability 

    • The largest contributor to system stability in bilayer formation is entropy of the water (increase in motional freedom of the water molecules) 

    The hydrophobic effect 

    • Burying nonpolar groups away from water increases the systems stability 

Water will permeate the bilayer first, then glycerol, toluene and then phosphate 

In a aqueous environment when a lipid bilayer forms, most water molecules acquire greater motional freedom 

Hydrophobic effect 

Allows for building and stabilizing lipid bilayers as well as the 3D structure of proteins and DNA

Membrane transport 

Passive transport 

Simple diffusion - (diffuses through the lipid bilayer) 

Facilitated diffusion -(uses protein transporter)

Channel mediated- , can be open or gated, selective for specific molecules. Chanel provides a hydrophilic passageway and aqueous pore. This type of diffusion is usually quicker then carrier proteins. Molecules have to interact with the protein channel 

Carrier mediated - carrier proteins are gated; they have an open and closed formation. Carriers transport specific types of molecules (more specific than channels) . The protein undergoes a shape change. 

Active transport - Will go against the concentration gradient and requires energy 

Primary active transport - using energy directly 

Move molecules against concentration gradient 

ATP is used as an energy source to pump 

Sodium is moving outside of the cell, potassium is moving inside the cell 

Called primary because energy is used directly for the pumps 

Na+ K+ pump 

  • Na+ (sodium) transport protein (pump) is in ‘open conformation’ in the cytoplasm (inside the cell)

  • Na binds to this open conformation 

  • ATP is de-phosphorylated to ADP. This directly provides energy to change the conformation

  • The transport protein changes shape and Na+ is released to the outside (extracellular space).

  • Primary = ATP is the primary energy source

  • The protein is now in open conformation outside the cell (closed inside the cell)

  • K+(potassium) binds to this open conformation (as Na + is released)

  • Binding of K+ causes a conformational change in the protein.

  • K+ is transported into the cell and the open conformation of the protein is now on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane.



Molecules can move in either direction but there can be a net direction of movement (into the cell)

Water can be transported by both simple diffusion and facilitated diffusion (osmosis)

In facilitated diffusion glucose moves along the concentration gradient, molecules can move in both directions but have a net direction. Energy is not required to transport glucose

Secondary active transport - indirectly uses energy 

Uses energy indirectly to move molecules against a concentration gradient. 

Protons (H+) are transported across the membrane by a transporter protein 

This is active transport. Now for step 2 there is an established electrochemical gradient. The protons cannot move back across their membrane due to their charge. Step 3, transporter protein 2 allows the movement of H+ down/ along the concentration gradient and back into the cell. This provided the energy to move other molecules outside the cells.