MacromoleculesofLife!

Usethevideosandyourtextbooktoanswerthefollowingquestionsandtheplaydohand
toothpickstobuildmodelsofglucose,asmallpieceofalipid(fat),andanaminoacid.Youwill
usetheNucleicacidbuildingblockstobuildashortpieceofDNA6nucleotideslong.

1. Carbohydrates

A. Whatisamonomer?Givetwoexamplesforcarbohydrates.
Amonomerisamoleculethatcanbebondedwithotheridenticalmoleculestobeformedintoa
polymer.Twoexamplesofacarbohydratesaredifferentkindsofbreadanddifferentkindsof
pizza.
B.Builda
glucosering
structuremonomerwithplaydohandtoothpicks.Useadifferentcolorof
playdohforcarbon,oxygen,andhydrogenatoms.Thetoothpicksserveasthebondsbetween
theatoms.Takeapictureofyourmoleculeandinsertitintoyourlabhere.
Green=oxygen
Pink=carbon

Orange=hydrogenatoms

C.Whatisa
polymer
?Fillinthetablebelow.
Polymer:asubstancewhichhasamolecularstructurebuiltupchieflyorcompletelyfrom
alargenumberofsimilarunitsbondedtogether,e.g.manysyntheticorganicmaterialsusedas
plasticsandresins.

TypeofPolymer

Function(s)

Whattypesoforganisms
haveit

Starch

theyonlyfunctionofstarchin
thehumandietistoconvert
intoglucoseforenergy.

Glycogen

alargemultibranched
polymerofglucosewhichis
accumulatedinresponseto
insulinandbrokendowninto
glucoseinresponseto
glucagon.

Cellulose

Chitin

alongchainedlinkedsugar
moleculesthatgiveswoodits
remarkablestrength.itisthe
maincomponentofplantcell
walls,andthebasicbuilding
blocksfortextilesandfor
paper.Cottonisthepurest
naturalformofcellulose.
atoughsemitransparent
substancethatisthemain
componentofthe
exoskeletonsofarthropods,
suchasshellsofcrustaceans
andtheoutercoveringsof
insects.Chitinisalsofound
incellwallsofcertainfungi
andalgae.

D.Whycantweaswellasdogsandcatsdigestcelluloseverywell?
Wedonthavethenecessarybacteriainourintestinesthatmaketheenzymes(cellulases)
necessarytobreakdownthe14betaglucosebonds.Sowecannotbreakdowncelluloseinto
itsconstituentglucosemoleculesaswedowithstarch.

2.
Lipids

A. WhattwomoleculesmakeupaLipid?

Themoleculesofsuchalipidaremadeupofaglycerolmoleculewiththreefattyacidsattached
toit.Thiskindoflipidisalsocalledatriglyceride.Animportantclassoflipidsiscomposedofthe
phospholipidsthatmakeupcellmembranes.

B. Whyisalipidnotamonomer?
Lipids,suchastriglycerides,arecomposedofamoleculeofamoleculeofglycerolbondedto
threefattyacidchains(molecules).Sotheyarecomposedofmanymoleculesandtherefore
cannotbemonomers.
.

C. Buildaglycerolandpartofafattyacidchainwithplaydohandtoothpicks.Takeapicture
ofthepartsanduploadthemtoyourlabhere.

D. Fillinthetablebelow:

TypeofLipid

Function

Picture(uploadfrom

googleimages)
Triglyceride(or
triacylglyceride)

Phospholipid

Steroid

hormonesregulatethe
releaseoftriglyceridesfrom
fatcellssotheymeetforthe
bodysenergy.Triglycerideis
averyimportantenergy
sourceforourbodiesto
functionnormally.After
exercise,fatsarecleared
rapidlyfromthebloodstream
asthemusclecellsrequire
fatsforenergy.
Phospholipidsserveamajor
functioninthecellsofall
organisms:theyformthe
phospholipidmembranesthat
surroundthecelland
intracellularorganellessuch
asmitochondria.Thecell
membraneisafluid,semi
permeablebilayerthat
separatesthecellscontents
fromtheenvironment.

steroidhormoneshelp
controlmetabolism,
inflammation,immune
functions,saltandwater
balance,developmentof
sexualcharacteristics,and
theabilitytowithstandillness
andinjury.

Saturatedfat

saturatedfattyacidscontain
themaximumnumberof
hydrogenatomstheycan
holdandnodoublebonds
(whereasunsaturatedfatty
acidshaveoneormore
doublebonds).Thereare
severalkindsofnaturally
occurringsaturatedfatty
acids,theironlydifference

beinginthenumberof
carbonatomsinthechain.
Unsaturatedfat

Transfat

incellularmetabolism,
unsaturatedfatmolecules
containsomewhatless
energy(i.e.fewercalories)
thananequivalentamountof
saturatedfat.Thegreaterthe
degreeofunsaturationina
fattyacid(i.e.themore
doublebondsinthefatty
acid)themorevulnerableitis
tolipidperoxidation.
Antioxidantscanprotect
unsaturatedfatfromlipid
peroxidation.

Atransfatbehaveslikea
saturatedfatbecauseofits
chemicalstructure.

E.Whatareotherfunctionsoffats?
Ithelpsthebodymaintainitscoretemperatureandabsorbnutrientsandprovidesuswith
energy.

3.
Proteins

A. Howmanyaminoacidsarethere?Howmanyareimportanttoyourdiet?
Thereare20aminoacidsinprotein.Nineareessentialtoyourdiet.
B. Listthethreetypesofaminoacids.
Isoleucine,leucine,lysinearethreetypesofaminoacids.
C. List5categoriesorfunctionsofproteinswithexamples.
Proteinisnecessaryinbuildingandrepairingbodytissue.Ifyoudonotreceiveenoughprotein
inyourdiet,muscleswastingandothersymptomsmayresult.Hormonesarechemicals
producedbyglandsinpartofthebodythathelpcoordinateactivitiesandcommunicatewith
otherareas.Proteinhormonesbindthereceptorsonthecellmembraneinsteadofenteringthe
celldirectly.Enzymesareproteinsthatbindtomoleculestospeedupchemicalreactions.
Antibodiesarespecializedproteinconfigurationsthatprovideaspecificimmunedefense

againstinvaders.Proteinisbrokendownintoaminoacidsduringdigestionandprovidesfour
caloriespergram.
D. Filloutthetablebelow:

LevelofProteinFolding

Description

Primary

thesequenceofresiduesinthepolypedptide
chain

Secondary

alocalregularlyoccurringstructurein
proteinsandismainlyformedthrough
hydrogenbondsbetweenbackboneatoms.
Therearetwotypesofstablesecondary
structures:Alphahelicesandbetasheets.
Alphahelicesandbetasheetsarepreferably
locatedatthecoreoftheprotein,whereat
loopsprefertoresideinouterregions.

Tertiary

tertiarystructuredescribesthepackingof
alphahelices,betasheetsandrandomcoils
withrespecttoeachotheronthelevelofone
wholepolypeptidechain.

Quarternary

quartenarystructureonlyexists,ifthereis
morethanonepolypeptidechainpresentina

complexprotein.Thequartenarystructure
describesthespatialorganizationofthe
chains.

4.
NucleicAcids

1. WhatdoesDNAandRNAstandfor?
DNA=deoxyribonucleicacidandRNA=ribonucleicacid
2. WhatisthebasicmonomerofDNA?Whatthreethingsmakeitup?
Anucleotideisthemonomerofnucleicacids.Eachnucleotideconsistsofasugar,aphosphate
group,andanitrogenousbase.
3. WhatbasespairinDNA?Basepairsguaninecytosineandadeninethymine.
4. Fillthetableinbelow:

Base
Adenine

PyrimidineorPurine

Picture(uploadfrom
Googleimages)

purine

Guanine

purine

Cytosine

pyrimide

Uracil

purine

Thymine

purine

5. Builda6nucleotidelongmoleculeofDNAwiththekitsprovidedbyMrs.D.Takea
pictureanduploadithere.
Nokitswereprovided?
6. ListfourwaysthatDNAandRNAaredifferentfromeachother.
Themaindifferencebetweendnaandrnaisthesugarpresentinmolecules.Whilesugar
7. Fillinthetablebelow:

TypeofRNA

Function

mRNA

carriesthegeneticinformationcopiedfrom
DNAintheformofaseriesofthreebase
codewords,eachofwhichspecifiesa
particularaminoacid.

tRNA

atypeofrnamoleculethathelpsdecodea
messengerrnasequenceintoaprotein.
tRNAsfunctionatspecificsitesinthe
ribosomeduringtranslation,whichisa
processthatsynthesizesaproteinfroman
mRNAmolecule.

rRNA

associateswithasetofproteinstoform
ribosomes.Thesecomplexstructures,which
physicallymovealonganmRNAmolecule,
catalyzetheassemblyofaminoacidsinto
proteinchains.TheyalsobindtRNAsand
variousaccessorymoleculesnecessaryfor
proteinsynthesis.

snRNA(partofaSNRP)

oneofmanysmallRNAspeciesconfinedto
thenucleusseveralofthesnRNAsare
involvedinsplicingorotherRNAprocessing
reactions.

RNAi

averyimportanttoolforstudyinggene
functionsbecauseitallowssequencespecific
genesuppressioninavarietyoforganisms
andculturedcells.RNAiischaracterizedby
targetedmRNAdegradationof
sequencespecificdoublestrandedRNAsinto
cells.

8.Whyisitimportanttounderstandthebiochemistryofmacromolecules?Howdoesitrelateto
theprocessofdigestion?Itisimportanttounderstandthebiochemistryofmacromolecules
because::::Itrelatestotheprocessofdigestionby:::
(Idontknow:needhelp)