Biochemistry

of Cells

Bantulo

Valenzuela

-Simplest bacterium to the human being all use the same types of biomolecules and they all use energy

- Activities within a cell are similar to the transportation system of a city

Chemical foundations of Biochemistry

-Organic chemistry is the study of compounds of

carbon and hydrogen and their derivatives

- cellular apparatus of living organism is made up of

carbon compounds

- the reactions of molecules are based on the reaction

of their respective derivatives

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that is the energy currency of the cell,

contains both ester and anhydride linkages involving phophoric acid.

The Beginning of Biology : Origin of Life

-Earth and its water are the source and mainstay of life.

How and when did Earth come to be?

-Bigbang theory – widely accepted cosmological theory on how

Earth began

- all matter in the universe was originally confined to a

comparatively small volume of space. Result of tremendous

explosion this “primordial fireball” started to expand with great

force.

- the average temperature of the universe has been

decreasing ever since as a result of the explosion and lower

temperature forms stars and planet.

Uni verse composi t i on

Si mpl e : hydr ogen, hel i um, l i t hi un

Rest of chemi cal el ement s ar e f or med i n 3 ways:1.) Ther monucl ear r eact i ons t hat nor mal l y t akes pl ace i n st ar s

2.) Expl osi on of st ar s

3.) By act i on of cosmi c r ays out si de t he st ar s si nce t he f or mat i on of gal axy.

-Ver y l i t t l e or no f r ee (O2) exi st ed i n t he ear l y st ages

- The gases ar e usual l y pr esent i n t he at mospher e of ear t h: NH3, H2S, CO, CO2, CH4, N2, H2, and H2O.

Biomolecules

Macromolecules

- proteins, nucleic acids and polysaccharides

- monomers (smaller molecules) that are linked to

produce marcomolecules called polymers

- ex of monomers : amino acid, nucleotides,

monosaccharides

- amino acid + amino acid (polymerization) = proteins

- nucleotides + nucleotides = nucleic acids (RNA and

DNA)

- sugar monomers + sugar monomers (polymerization)

= polysaccharides

-Proteins of the class called enzymes display catalytic activity which

increase the rates of chemical reaction compared with uncatalyzed.

-The specific sequence of the amino acid present determines the

properties of all types of proteins including enzymes.

- Present day cells, the sequence of amino acids in proteins is

determined by the sequence of nucleotides in nucleic acids.

-DNA serves as a coding material.

- Genetic code is the relationship between the nucleotide sequence in

nucleic acids and the amino acid sequence in proteins.

-- information for the structure and function of all living things is

passed from one generation to the next.

The Biggest Biological Distinction (Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes)

Prokaryotes

- karyon, kernel nuts, literally means “before the nucleus”

- bacteria and cyanobacteria

- single-celled organisms

- small (1 to 3 angstrom)

Eukaryotes

- “true nucleus”

- multicellular or single-celled

- yeasts and paramecium ( single celled)

- animals and plants (multicellular organisms)

- large (10 to 100 angstrom)

Organelles – part of the cell that has a distinct function which is

surrounded by its own membrane within the cells.