Uni

tI
Cont
ent
I
ntr
oduct
ion:
impor
tanceofbi
ochemi
str
yinnur
sing
 St
udyofcel
landi
tsv
ari
ouscomponent
s
 Def
ini
ti
on-

Biochemist
ryisalsocall
edasbi ol
ogi
calchemi
stryorphysiologi
cal
chemistr
yisthest udyofchemicalpr
ocessesi
nthelivi
ngor gani
sms.I
t
canalsobedef i
nedast hestudyofmolecul
arbasisofl
ife

Or

Bio-
chemist
ryisthestudyofchemical subst
ancesandvit
alprocesses
occurr
ingi
nliv
ingorganisms.I
tincludesthestudyofchemist
rybehind
bi
ologi
calpr
ocessesandt hesynthesisofbiol
ogical
l
yacti
vemol ecul
es.

Si
gni
fi
canceandi
mpor
tanceofbi
o-chemi
str
yinnur
sing

 Knowi ngt henor mal processest hatoccurwi thint hebodywi llhelps

ust oi dent i
fyt heal t
erationt hatcanoccurdur ingdi seasecondi ti
ons
sot hatanef fect ivemedi cal treat mentcanbef acil
itated.
 Ar eviewoft heappl icati
onofbi ochemi str
yi nnur singneedst o
ment ionofmanyt herapeut i
cagent swhoseexi stencewasf irst
demonst r
atedonl abexper i
ment se. ghor monei nsul i
n, allthe
vi
tami nsandmanyot herpr oduct soft herapeut icsigni fi
cant.
 Bi ochemi str
yt eachesaboutt hehomeost asi
sandel ect rolytebal ance
andanur seshoul dunder standt heimpor tanceofi tint hebody .All
organsandt issuesi nthebodyf unct i
ont omai ntaint hishomeost asis.
Thebi ochemi stryteachesaboutt henor mal andabnor mal met abol i
c
l
ev elsandt hisknowl edgehel pst henur set otakespeci al careof
pat i
entbymai nt ai
ningt hef luidandel ect r
olyte.
 Thev ar i
ousbi ochemi cal testsl ikebloodt est,kidneyf unct i
ont est,
l
iverf unctiont est,li
pidpr ofi
le, willhelpt henur set odi agnosi s
diseasesandt het estresul t
swi l
l helpinassessi ngt heneedsoft he
pat i
entt opr ov ideanef fect i
v ecar e.
 Everydr ughasabi ochemi cal act i
onandt hisknowl edgewi llhel pin
selectingt heappr opr i
atedosesandt hedur ationoft reat menta
pat i
entr equires.
 Nut ri
tional biochemi str
yt eachest herelationbet weenheal t
h, dietand
diseases.
Cell -allorganismsar emadeup ofcel l
s.Cellisabasicstr
uctur
al,
funct
ionalandbiologi
caluni
tofli
fe.I
twasdiscov
eredbyRober
tHookein
1665.
Thewor dcell
comesf rom al
ati
nwor dCel
l
ameaningsmallr
oom.

Cell
sarethebuil
dingblockoft heli
fewher eallchemicalprocessesoccur.
Theytakeupt hebiol
ogi calmolecules,convertthem intoenergyoruse
them tocarr
youtspeci alizedfuncti
ons.Ital socontainstheher edi
tar
y
materi
alwhi
chdeterminest hegeneti
ccharacters.

Cel
listhestruct
uralandfunct
ionaluni
tofalll
i
vingor
ganism.Bact
eri
aar
e
uni
cel
lular(
consi
stofsingl
ecell)
,humanbeingsaremult
icel
l
ular
.

Eachcel ltakesnutr
ient
sandconv er
tsaenergy
.A cel
lalsocar
riedout
special
i
zedf unct
ionsandrepr
oducesandst
oresi
tsownsetofi
nst
ructi
ons
forcarr
yingouttheseacti
vi
ti
es.

Ty
pesofcells
1.Eukary
oticcell
2.Prokar
yoticcel
l

Eukar
yot
iccel
l

Eukaryoticcell
saret hosecellswhi chhaveat r
uenucleus.Ithasanuclear
membr anewi t
hinwhi chther eiswel ldefi
nedchromosome.A  eukaryoti
c
cell
 
cont ai
nsmembr ane-boundor ganel
lessuchas,mi tochondr
ia,andan
endoplasmi creti
culum.Or ganismsbased on t he 
eukaryoti
ccell 
i
nclude
protozoa,fungi
,plants,andani mals.Theseorgani
smsar egroupedintothe
biol
ogicaldomai nEukaryota.

Or
ganisms wit
h eukar
yot
ic cel
l
s are call
ed as eukar
yot
es.Eukar
yot
es
maybesingl
ecel
ledormul
ti
cell
ularor
ganisms

Theeukar
yoti
ccell
has2maj orpart
s
1.Theplasmamembr ane
2.Thecytopl
asm andit
sorganel
les
St
ruct
ureofeukar
yot
iccel
l

Plasmamembr ane
 Theout erliningofaeukar yoti
ccelliscall
edplasmamembr ane.Iti
s
athin,elastic,semipermeabl emembr aneof7. 5to10nanomet res
thi
ckness.
Itismadeupofadoubl el ayerofli
pidscall
edasphosphol ipidswhich
i
sembeddedwi thproteins.
 Therear eanumberofpr otei
nsassoci at
edwithcy t
oskelet
on.
 Cytoskeletoni sacompl exanddy nami ccomponentt hatactst o
organizeandmai ntaincel lshape,anchororganell
esintheirplace,
helpsdur i
ngendocy t
osi s(uptakeofmat eri
albythecell)andmov es
i
ntracell
ularor ganell
esoft hecell
dur i
ngtheprocessesofgr owt hand
mot i
li
ty.
Functi
ons:
1.I
tpr ot
ect sthecel l
cont entsf r
om thesurroundingenvir
onment
2.I
tpr ovi
desshapet ot hecel l
 3.Iti
ssemiper
meableandall
owstranspor
tofcer
tai
nsubst
ancesi
nto
andoutoft
hecell
4.Ithel
psi
nformi
ngcellj
unct
ions

Cy
toplasm andi t
sor ganelles-
 Thepr otoplasm sur roundi ngt henucleuscall
edcy toplasm.I ti
sclear
gel at
inousf luidthatf i
ll
st hecel landsurroundstheor ganell
e.I
t
cont ains90%wat er,dissolv edsubstances,minerals,sugarions,
vitamins, ami noacids, prot einsandenzy mes.
 Cy toplasm ist heseatf ormanypat hwayslikeglycolysis,HMP
pat hway
I tcont ainswel lorganizedst ructur
escalledorganelleswhi chvaryin
sizeandt heyar especi alizedt ocarryoutoneormor evitalf
uncti
ons
oft hecel l
.
 Theor ganellesincludes
 Nucl eus
 Mi tochondr i
a
 Endopl asmicr eti
culum
 Gol giapparat us
 Ribosomes
 Ly sosomes
 Cent ri
ol e
 Vacuol e

Nucl
eus–
 Nucleusal socall
edcellsinformat i
oncent re,isthemostconspi cuous
organellef oundinaeukar yoticcell
.I tisaspeci alizeddoubl e
membr aneboundbodypr esentatt hecent reoft hecell.
 Thenucl eusissurroundedbyadoubl elayercalledasnucl ear
membr aneornucl earenvelope.I ti
smadeupofpr otei
nsandl ipids.I
t
enclosest henucleust okeepi tsepar atef rom sur roundingmat erial
s
ofthecel l
.
 Theout ermembr anei scontinuouswi thendopl asmi creti
culum andit
hasr i
bosomesat tachedont heout ersur face.Ithasl argenuclear
porest hroughwhi chnucleart ranspor toflargemol ecules,smal l
molecul esandi ons.
 Thes[ pacebet weent henucl earmembr anei scalledper i
nuclear
spaceandi ti
scontinuouswi ththel umenofr oughendopl asmic
reti
culum.
  Withinthenuclearmembr anei
sajel
l
ylikesubstancecal
l
ed
karyoly
mphornucl eopl
asm.
 Withinthenucleoplasm t
herei
sanetworkofchromatinf
ibr
il
swhi
ch
condensetof orm chromosomesdur
ingcelldi
vi
sion.

Funct
ions-
I tcontrol
sthehereditarychar acteri
sti
csofanor ganism
 Storesheredit
ymat erialsinthef orm ofDNA
I tisasitefort
ranscriptioninpr otei
nsy nthesi
s
I thelpsinthesynthesisofr i
bosomes
I tregul
atestheint
egr i
tyofgenesandgeneexpr essi
on
I ttakesintherol
eofpr otei
nsy nthesis,celldi
vi
sion

Mi
tochondr
ia

Mitochondri
aar esmall
,sausageshapedst r
uctur
e.Itmeasuresabout0.5
to1mi crometerindi
amet er.I
tisal
socall
edaspowerhouseofcel lasit
generatesenergyint
hef orm ofadenosi
netri
phosphates(ATP)whichis
requi
redbyallthecel
ls.Mi t
ochondri
apresenti
nbothpl antandani
mal cel
l.

Mi
tochondr
iahav
et womembr anes,anout
eroneandani
nnerone.Each
membranehasdi
fferentf
unct
ions.

Mit
ochondri
aarespli
tint
odiffer
entcompar
tment
sorr
egi
ons,
eachof
whi
chcarri
esoutdist
inctrol
es.
Outermembr ane:
 t
heoutermembr aneisasmoot hphospholi
pidbilay
er.
Thisouterporti
onincl
udesprotei
nscall
edporins,whichfor
m channelst hat
al
lowpr ot
einst ocr
oss.Smallmolecul
escanpassf reel
ythr
ought heout er
membr ane.Ithasenzymesli
kemonoami neoxidaseandNADHr eductase.

I
nter
membr anespace:
 Thi
sist
hear
eabet
weent
hei
nnerandout
er
membranes.

Innermembr ane: Thismembr aneholdsprot

einsthathav
esever
alroles.
Becauset herear enopor i
nsintheinnermembr ane,i
tisi
mpermeableto
mostmol ecules.Mol ecul
escanonlycrosstheinnermembranei
nspeci al
membr anetranspor t
ers.Thei
nnermembr anei swheremostATPis
created.

Cri
stae:
 Thesear et
hef
oldsofthei
nnermembrane.Theyi
ncr
easethe
surf
aceareaoft hemembrane,
ther
efor
eincr
easi
ngthespaceavai
l
ablef
or
chemicalreact
ions.

Matri
x: 
Thi
sisthespacewit
hintheinnermembrane.Contai
ninghundr
eds
ofenzymes,i
tisi
mportanti
ntheproducti
onofATP.Mi t
ochondri
alDNAis
housedhere.
Funct
ions-
I tistheseatforkr ebscy cl
e
I tcontai
nsenzy mesf oroxidat
ivephosphor
ylati
onwhi chhelpsin
producingenergyr ichATPmol ecules
I tprovi
desi nt
ermedi atesforsynthesi
sofcyt
ochr ome, chl
orophyl
l
,
hemogl obinandst er oids
 Fattyacidsaresy nthesi zedinthemat ri
x
 Calcium canbest or edi nthepowerhouseoft hecellandreleased
whenev errequir
ed.

Endopl
asmi creticulum-
I ti
sanet workoft ubul arandvesicul
arst ruct
uresextendi
ngf r
om
outermembr aneofnucl eustot heplasmamembr ane.I
tspreadsal
l
overthecy t
oplasm andi tpr
ovidesal argesurfaceareaforvari
ous
physiologicalactivi
ties.
 Whent heribosomesar eatt
achedont heoutersurfaceofthe
membr aneoft heendopl asmicreti
culum itiscall
edrough
endoplasmi cret i
culum( RER)
I fr
ibosomesar enott herethenitiscalledassmoot hendoplasmic
ret
iculum (SER) .

Funct
ions-
 RERhelpsintr
ansport
ingprot
einsf
rom r
ibosomestogol
gi bodi
es
 SERisinv
olvedinthesynt
hesi
sofli
pid,
incl
udingchol
est
eroland
 phospholipids
Insomecel l
sSERhelpsint
hesynt
hesisofster
oidhor
monesf
rom
cholester
ol
Inl
ivercellstheSERhelpsi
ndet
oxif
yingdrugsandhar
mful
chemi cal
s.

Golgiapparatus-
Iti
salsocalledgolgibodi
esorGol gicomplex.I
tlooksl
ikeapileofdi sc.I
t
i
spr esentbetweenendoplasmicr et
icul
um andplasmamembr ane.Like
endoplasmicreti
culum i
tisasinglemembr aneboundst r
ucture.Inanimal
cel
lsitispresentaroundthenucleuswhileinpl
antcell
itisscattered
thr
oughoutt hecell
.

Funct
ions-
 Thegl ycoli
pidsandsphingomyeli
nar
esynthesi
zedwi t
hint
hegol
gi
appar atus
I ttakesar ol
einsynthesisofcar
bohy
dratesl
ikegalact
ose
 Primar yly
sosomesdev elopsfr
om matur
egolgibodies
 Itplay
si mpor tantroleinlipidt r
af f
icking
Ri
bosome-
 Ri bosomei sal argecompl excomposedofmanymol ecul es,
includingRNAandpr oteins.
 Theyar epresentinbot heukar yotesandpr okaryot
es
 Theyar emadeupoft wosubuni t
s-asmal lsubunitandl arge
subuni t
.thesmal lsubuni treadst hemRNAwhi let
hel argesub
uni tassemblest heami noaci dst oform alargepolypeptide
 Thesear eresponsi blefort hepr ocessingofgenet i
ci nstructi
on
car riedbymRNA.
 Thepr ocessofconv ertingmRNAcodoni ntot hesequenceof
ami noacidsthatmakeupapr oteiniscal
ledt r
ansl
ation.
 S omeoft heribosomef l
oatf reei nthecytoplasm,calledf ree
ribosomewhi leother sar eboundt oendoplasmi cr
eticulum.

Funct
ions-i
tist
hesi
tef
orpr
otei
nsy
nthesi
s

Lysosomes-
Thesearetinysacli
keorganel
leofsize0.5to1.5nm.Foundi nhundredsin
singl
ecell
.Theyarefor
medf rom golgibodi
esassmal lv
esicl
eswi t
hinthe
sacther
ear esever
alhydrol
yti
cenzymest hatbreakdownmacr omolecul
es
l
ikenucl
eicacid,pr
otei
n,andpolysacchari
des.Theyarealsocall
edas
suici
dal
bags.

Funct
ions-
 Ithelpsindigesti
onoffoodbyr el
easingenzymes
 Theydigestwornoutorganell
es
Ithelpsindefensebydigesti
nggerms
Ithelpssperm cell
sinenter
ingtheeggbybr eaki
ngthr
oughtheegg
membr ane
Itprovi
desener gyduri
ngcellst
arvat
ionbydigesti
onofcel
l
sown
part
s

Peroxisomes-iti
satypeofmi crobodywhichissmall,spher
ical
shaped
withsingl
emembr ane.Theyarefoundinbothplantcell
sandanimal cel
l
s.
Justli
kelysosomestheycontainmanyenzy meswhichhel pi
nbiologi
cal
react
ions.Thesearefor
medf rom endopl
asmicreti
culum.

Funct
ions-
 Enzy meswhi charepr esentinthi
sareusedf ordi
ffer
entmetabol
i
c
reactionsli
kepentosephosphat epathway
 Theyhel pinoxidati
onofmanysubst ratesresulti
nginthefor
mati
on
ofhy drogenperoxideasabypr oduct
 Theyal soinvol
vedi ncatabolism off
at t
yacids
 Theyar eneededi nthesy nthesi
sofpl asmalogens
I tplaysimportantroleinsynthesisofcholesterol
,bil
eaci
dsand
my eli
n

Vacuol
es
Vacuol
esst orefoodandwast eproduct
s.Somev acuol
esalsostorewater
andaredescr i
bedasl i
qui
d–fil
ledspaces.Theyaresurr
oundedbya
membr ane.Itcontai
nsorgani
candi nor
ganicmolecul
eswithi
nit.Theydo
nothaveparticul
arsizeandshapebutadjustthemsel
vesaccordingtot
he
needofthecel l
.

Funct
ions-
I thelpsinremov ingwast epr oduct
sfrom thecel
l
I tisol
atessubst ancet hatareharmfultothecell
I tholdswat erandwast eproductswithi
nit
I thelpsinmai ntainingthePhwi thi
nthecell
I thelpstomai ntainhydrostati
cpressurewit
hinthecel
l

Cent
ri
ole–
Iti
scy l
indricali
nshape.Iti
spresentinallanimal cell
sjustoutsidethe
nucleus.Itdoesnothav eamembr ane.Allcentr
iolesaremadeupof
protei
nst randscalledt
ubuli
n.Eachcent r
iolehas9set sofinterconnected
peri
pher altubul
esandeachsethas3mi crotubulesarrangedatdef ini
te
anglesmaki ngtheshapeofacy l
inder.I
thasi t
sownDNAandRNAand
theref
orei tisselfdupl
i
cati
ng.Twocent ri
oleswhenor i
entedatar ightangl
e
formscent r
osome.

Funct
ions
I tisi
nvol
vedincell
divi
sion
I thel
psinformat
ionofcili
aandflagel
l
a
I thel
psinorgani
zati
onandalignmentofmi
crot
ubul
eswi
thi
nthecel
l
.

Microt
ubuels
Theyarelonghall
owcyli
ndri
caland24nm indiameterandcangr
owupt
o
alengt
hof50nm.Theyar efoundinalleukar
yot
iccell
s.Theyar
emadeup
oftwoglobularpr
otei
nsnamelyAlfaandBetatubul
in.

Funct
ions-
 Theyarepartofcytoskel
etonandsopr ovi
desmechanicalsuppor
tto
thecell
I thel
psinorgani
zationofcytoplasm
 Theyhelpi
nsegr egati
onofchr omosomesduringmitosi
s
 Theyareusedforlocomotionwhenpr esenti
nflagel
l
aandci l
ia

Prokaryoti
ccell
Apr okaryot
eisasi nglecelledorganism t
hatdoesnothaveatr uenucleus
eg-bacteri
a,archaea.Itdoesnotcont ai
nanymembr aneboundor ganel
les
l
ikemi t
ochondr i
a,nucleus,endoplasmicreti
culum et
c.
Theyhav emanyr ibososmesscat teredthroughtoutt
hei
rcyt
oplasm and
nucl
eoidwhi chcontainsDNA

Par
tsofpr
okar
yot
iccel
l-

Fl
agell
um-itisalonghairl
i
kest r
ucturethathel
psinlocomotion
Pi
li
-smallhai
rli
kestruct
urepresentont hesurf
acewhichhelpsin
at
tachi
ngtothesurfaceofotherbacteri
as
Cytopl
asm -Thecytopl
asm, orpr
otoplasm,ofbacter
ialcel
l
siswheret
he
functi
onsforcel
lgr
owth,metabol
i
sm, andrepl
icat
ionarecarr
iedout.I
tisa
gel-l
i
kemat ri
xcomposedofwater
,enzymes,nutri
ent
s,wastes,andgases
andcont ai
nscel
lst
ruct
uressuchasri
bosomes, achromosome, and
plasmids.
Nucl eoi d 
-Thenucl eoi
disar egionofcy topl
asm wher ethechr
omosomal
DNAi sl ocated.I
tisnotamembr aneboundnucl eus,butsimpl
yanar eaof
thecy t oplasm wherethestrandsofDNAar efound.Mostbacteri
ahav ea
single, cir
cularchr
omosomet hatisresponsibl
eforrepli
cati
on.Small
er
circularauxi l
iar
yDNAst rands, cal
ledplasmids,arealsofoundinthe
cytopl asm.

Plasmids-aresmall,
extrachromosomal genet
icstr
uctur
escarr
iedby
bacteri
a.plasmidsaremadeofaci r
cularpi
eceofDNA.Onlythe
chromosomehast hegeneticinst
ructi
onsfori
nit
iat
ingandcarr
y i
ngoutcel
l
divi
sion,orbinar
yfi
ssion.
Ribosomes-Ribosomesaremicr
oscopi
c"fact
ori
es"f
oundinall
cells,
i
ncludingbact
eri
a.Ribosomessynt
hesi
stheProt
einswhichi
sneededf or
codingofnucl
icacid.Ri
bosomesaremadeupofRNAr i
chgranules.
CellEnvel
ope 
-Thecel
lenv
elopeismadeupoft
wotothreelayers:
the
i
nteriorcy
topl
asmi
cmembr ane,
thecel
lwal
l
,andout
ercapsuleinsome
bacteri
a.
CellWall
 -Eachbacter
ium i
sencl
osedbyari
gidcellwal
lcomposedof
pepti
doglycanmolecul
e.Thewallgi
vest
hecel
l i
tsshapeandsurr
oundst
he
cy
topl
asmi
cmembr
ane,
prot
ect
ingi
tfr
om t
heenv
ironment
.
Capsule 
-Someofbacteri
ahav eat hi
rdprotect
ivecoveri
ngcalledas
capsul
eitismadeupofpol ysacchari
des.Themosti mportantrol
eof
capsul
eistokeepthebacterium f
rom dryi
ngoutandpr otectfr
om
phagocyt
osisbyl
argermicroorganisms
Ex-
Escher
ichi
acol
i
 and 
Str
ept
ococcuspneumoni
a. 

Di
ff
erencebet
weenpr
okar
yot
eandeukar
yot
e-

Pr
okar
yot
e Eukar
yot
e
Cel
lwi
thoutdef
ini
tenucl
eus Cel
lwi
thdef
ini
tenucl
eus
Cel
lsi
zei
s0.
1-0.
5mi
cromet
er Cel
lsi
zei
s5-
100mi
cromet
ers
I
thasseeni
nuni
cel
l
ular I
tisseeni
nmul
ti
cel
l
ular
or
gani
sms or
ganisms
Ithasnomembranebound I
thasmembr
anebound
organell
esl
i
kemi t
ochondri
a, or
ganel
l
es
endoplasmi
cret
icul
um etc.
Cell
walli
smadeof Cel
lwalli
fpr
esenti
smadeof
pepti
dogl
ycan cel
l
ulose
DNAcont
enti
slow DNAcontenti
shighandi
tis
pr
esenti
nthenucleus
Pl
asmi
dsar
ecommon Pl
asmi
dsar
erar
e
Cel
lmayhav
epi
l
iorf
imbr
iae Cel
ldoesnothav
epi
l
iorf
imbr
iae
Cent
rosomesi
sabsent Cent
rosomesi
spr
esent
 Cel
lmembr
anehav
emesosomes Cel
lmembranehav
eno
mesosomes
Cy
closi
sisabsent Cy
closi
sispr
esent
Cel
ldi
vi
sioni
sbybi
nar
yfi
ssi
on Cel
ldi
vi
sioni
sbymi
tosi
sor
mei
osis
Ther
eisnocy
toskel
eton Theyal
way
shav
eacy
toskel
eton
Theyar
eabsent Ly
sosomesandper
oxi
somesar
e
pr
esent
Tr
anscr
ipt
ionoccur
sint
he Transcr
ipt
ionoccur
sint
he
cy
topl
asm nucleus
Eg-bact
eri
a Eg-ani
mal
cel
l
,pl
antcel
l

I
mpor
tantquest
ions
1.Expl
ainaboutt
hei
mpor
tanceofbi
ochemi
str
yinnur
sing

2.Di
ff
erent
iat
ethepr
okar
yot
icandeukar
yot
iccel
l
s

3.Funct
ionsofmi
tochondr
ia