The journey to a polypeptide

A polypeptide is a sequence of amino acids joined

together to form a protein. From the nucleus, RNA is
shipped to the Ribosome, which reads it and
converts the instructions to a protein chain. This is
done by reading each sequence of 3 nucleotides as
codons, and attaching tRNA with the correct
anticodon, leading to a completed protein.
 The ribosome
mRNA enters through the
A (access) point, where
Single amino acids are
Brought in and transferred
To the P (protein) site,
After which it is pushed
Out through the E (Eject)
Site.
 Nucleotides
The structure of a nucleotide is: a nitrogenous base,
a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group.
The 4 nitrogenous bases are the 4 letters A, G, C, T.
Adenine and guanine are purines, as they have 2
rings in their structure, and thymine, cytosine and
uracil are pyrimidines, as they only have 1 ring.
A nucleic acid containing ribose is a ribonucleic acid,
and one containing deoxyribose is a
deoxyribonucleic acid.
 ATP
ATP, adenosine triphosphate, is a major chemical used
throughout the cell, bit is not a part of genetic structure. It is
constructed of a nucleotide base, adenine and a ribose.
Up to 3 phosphate groups can attach to the ribose, naming
structure of mono, di, or tri phosphate.
Adenosine is adenine with a sugar attached, so free floating
adenine is adenine.
These bonds are very high energy, so the splitting of these
phosphate linkages is where the energy from ATP comes
from.
 DNA
DNA is a double helix, of opposite strands of
nucleotides with a nitrogenous backbone. These
strands run antiparallel to each other and are how
base pairings are possible. The strand run from the
5’ end to the 3’ end, named so
Because of the carbons in the
Pentose that the phosphorous
Binds to.
 The structure of DNA

DNA is held together by phosphodiester bonds, 2 of the -OH

groups on a phosphoric acid bind to the hydroxyl groups on
the 3’ and 5’ carbon of the pentose of nucleotides.
The nucleotide base pairings are connected to each other
through hydrogen bonding. A-T is the weaker pairing, and as
such is used when the cell needs to be able to easily
separate the 2 strands (for example the TATA box), and G-C
is much stronger. This is because A-T pairings contain 2
hydrogen bonds, and G-C pairings contain 3.
DNA Replication
 DNA Replication
The DNA is is first softened by topoisomerase, before being
“unzipped” by helicase. DNA polymerase can bind once the
DNA is “unzipped” and always reads 3’ to 5’ (like climbing the
spiral staircase). For the leading strand (the 3’-5’ strand),
DNA polymerase can follow uninterrupted and is a more
simple process. For the lagging strand (the 5’-3’ strand), it
cannot, as it cannot follow the helicase, so it has to do it in
chunks as they become available. This process for the
lagging strand is called Okazaki fragments, named after the
Japanese scientist who discovered it.
The nucleotides are glued in place by DNA ligase, which
facilitates the creation of the phosphodiester bonds.
 RNA structure
RNA is single sided, with uracil instead of thymine, the
differences shown below being one methyl group and the
other major difference is the ribose having one extra oxygen.
To make it safely through the cell the mRNA travels in a lipid
nanoparticle.
 Mutations
Mutations are random changes or mistakes to DNA made
during replication. There are several types of mutations:
Substitution - when a base is inserted directly instead of the
correct one.
Frame-shift - when a base is inserted or deleted, shifting the
codons by one base. (this alters the entire sequence, and is
usually fatal to the gene)