Macromolecules

What are MACROMOLECULES?
Macromolecules are molecules needed to survive basic reactions.

Terms that you need to know:

1. Polymers are long molecule consisting of many similar or identical building blocks linked by covalent bonds
2. Dehydration Reaction is the loss of a water molecule to make a bond.
3. Hydrolysis is the addition of a water molecule to break a bond

The Different Macromolecules

• Carbohydrates are composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. This is the energy used by our body. The building block of carbohydrates is glucose. There are three types of carbohydrates:

1. Monosaccharides are the simplest form of sugar. Examples are glucose, fructose, and galactose.
2. Disaccharides are 2 monosaccharides joined by glycosidic linkage

• Glucose + Glucose = Maltose
• Glucose + Fructose = Sucrose
• Galactose + Glucose = Lactose
• Galactose + Fructose = Lactulose 

3. Polysaccharides are the complex of carbohydrates. An example is the chitin which is the carbohydrate used by arthropods to build their exoskeleton.

• Fats make up the cellular membrane. Fats are the stored energy of our body. They are cushion that protect the internal organs from external force. The building block of fats are fatty acids.

1. Fatty Acid is a long carbon skeleton, usually 16 or 18 carbon atoms in length.
2. Phospholipids are lipids whose head is glycerol (hydrophilic) and tail is fatty acid (hydrophobic) which can be found on the triacylglycerol.
3. Ester linkage is the link of the glycerol to the fatty acid.
4. Saturated fats are animal fats which are solid in form.
5. Unsaturated fats are plant fats which are in liquid form and healthy fats. It has a kink which makes it more stable.
6. Steroids are mistakenly known as proteins that help build muscles. Steroids are fats that strengthen the muscles.

• Nucleic Acid is the basic composition of DNA and RNA.

	Location	# of strands	Nitrogenous bases
DNA	Nucleus	2	C, G, A,T
RNA	In & out of the nucleus	1	C, G, A, U

1. Nucleotide is more stable and the building block of nucleic acid. 
2. Nucleoside is like a nucleotide except that it has no phosphate. It is the building block of nucleotide.

• Protein is made up of amino acids and serves as the building blocks of cells.
• Enzymes are specific proteins that mostly end up in -ase

				20 AMINO ACIDS
Name	Abb	Name	Abb	Name	Abb	Name	Abb	Name	Abb
Glycine	Gly	Isoleucine	Ile	Proline	Pro	Tyrosine	Tyr	Glutamic Acid	Glu
Alanine	Ala	Methionine	Met	Serine	Ser	Asparagine	Asn	Lysine	Lys
Valine	Val	Phenylalanine	Phe	Threonine	Thr	Glutamine	Gln	Arginine	Arg
Leucine	Leu	Tryptophan	Trp	Cysteine	Cys	Aspartic Acid	Asp	Histidine	His

1. Primary Structure is where amino acids and polypeptide chains are formed.
2. Secondary Structure is where coiled protein (alpha helix) and folded protein (beta-pleated sheet) are formed.
3. Tertiary Structure is where interaction of molecules within the protein structure occur.
4. Quaternary Structure is the final stage in which the protein knows its function.

The Protein Synthesis

	Replication	Transcription	Translation
Location	Nucleus	Nucleus	Cytoplasm
Key player	DNA is copied	DNA is transcribed to RNA (codon)	RNA (anti-codon=amino acid)