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2.1: Prelude to Structure and Function

  • Page ID
    7808
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    Source: BiochemFFA_2_1.pdf. The entire textbook is available for free from the authors at http://biochem.science.oregonstate.edu/content/biochemistry-free-and-easy

    "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." Mark Twain

    chapter intro.PNG

    In this chapter, we will examine the structures of the major classes of biomolecules, with an eye to understanding how these structures relate to function.

    As noted earlier, water is the most abundant molecule in cells, and provides the aqueous environment in which cellular chemistry happens. Dissolved in this water are inorganic ions like sodium, potassium and calcium. But the distinctiveness of biochemistry derives from the vast numbers of complex, large, carbon compounds, that are made by living cells. You have probably learned that the major classes of biological molecules are proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids. The first three of these major groups are macromolecules that are built as long polymers made up of smaller subunits or monomers, like strings of beads. The lipids, while not chains of monomers, also have smaller subunits that are assembled in various ways to make the lipid components of cells, including membranes. The chemical properties and three dimensional conformations of these molecules determine all the molecular interactions upon which life depends. Whether building structures within cells, transferring information, or catalyzing reactions, the activities of biomolecules are governed by their structures. The properties and shapes of macromolecules, in turn, depend on the subunits of which they are built.

    2.1.PNG

    Interactive 2.1: The enzyme Hexokinase: as for all enzymes, the activity of hexokinase depends on its structure. Protein Database (PDB)

    We will next examine the major groups of biological macromolecules: proteins, polysaccharides, nucleic acids, and lipids. The building blocks of the first three, respectively, are amino acids, monosaccharides (sugars), and nucleotides. Acetyl-CoA is the most common building block of lipids.


    This page titled 2.1: Prelude to Structure and Function is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kevin Ahern, Indira Rajagopal, & Taralyn Tan via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.