Lecture 4: Nucleus Stuff

Here we are using protein synthesis both as an example of an anabolic process

and as something you should know for its own sake. Proteins wear out and the
ability to replace old proteins and make new ones is essential for a cells (and
therefore the whole organisms) survival.

I. It all starts with DNA

A. DNA is double stranded
1. Each strand is a string of nucleotides joined together
2. The two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between the
organic bases of the two strands
3. This is not random. Each base can only hydrogen bond with one other
base
4. Adenosine always base-pairs with thymine (and vice versa)
5. Guanine always base-pairs with cytosine (and vice versa)
B. DNA gets transcribed into messenger RNA
1. DNA is the master blueprint, mRNA molecules are the plans that get
sent out to the contractors and actually used to build the house
2. One DNA blueprint can make thousands of mRNA transcripts
3. The RNA that gets made is based on the sequence of nucleotides in
the DNA
a. Remember that RNA has Uracil instead of thymine
i AU
b. Example: if the DNA sequence is ATGCGA the mRNA sequence
will be UACGCU
C. RNA is in three-letter words
1. The string of mRNA is read as a set of three-letter words
2. These three-letter words are called codons
3. Each codon tells the cell which amino acid to put into a protein
4. You use a codon table (see figure 4-27) to match the mRNA sequence
with the amino acid sequence it gets turned into
5. Example: if the mRNA reads GAU GCA, the two amino acids that will
get put together are Aspartic acid (GAU) and Alanine (GCA)
D. mRNA is translated into the primary protein sequence
1. The ribosomes of the cell read the long sentence composed of
three-letter words written in the language of nucleic acid and
translate that message into the language of proteins
2. DNA sequence determines RNA sequence
3. RNA sequence determines amino acid sequence (protein primary
structure)
4. Amino acid sequence determines secondary structure, which
determines tertiary structure