Biomolecules of Cell

Dr G V Ramana
 Introduction
• All metabolic activities of living bodies are
regulated by Biomolecules.
• Molecules which take part in biochemical
reactions of living body-Biomolecules
• Biomolecules Definition:
Biomolecules are those molecules that are
involved in the maintenance and
metabolic processes of all living
organisms.
• Biomolecules like carbohydrates, lipids,
proteins, vitamins, hormones are basically
organic compounds
• Mainly composed of carbon and hydrogen with
some other atoms like oxygen, sulphur,
nitrogen, phosphorus etc.
• Some Biomolecules like adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate
(ADP) act as energy coin and mainly involve in
the energy transfer process during metabolic
activities.
• These are polymeric forms of monomer units.
• Example: S.No Monomer Polymer
1 Fatty acid
Diglyceride, triglyceride

2 Monosaccharide
Polysaccharide

3 Amino acid
Polypeptide(protein)

4 Nucleotide Nucleic acid(DNA, RNA)

• These molecules interact with each other under

optimum conditions and form different products.
• Hence, Biomolecules are complex chemical
substances which form the basis of life
• responsible for their growth, maintenance
and ability to reproduce.
 Types of Biomolecules
• There are mainly four types of
Biomolecules
1.Carbohydrates
2.Lipids
3.Proteins and
4.Nucleic acid.
Functional Groups of Biomolecules
• Some common functional groups present in
different bio molecules are as follows.
 Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are organic molecules
composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
• Carbohydrates are defined chemically as
aldehyde or ketone derivatives of the higher
polyhydric alcohols, or compounds which yield
these derivatives on hydrolysis.
• Carbohydrates are composed of monomer units
which are bonded with each other through
glycosidic linkage.
 CLASSIFICATION
• Carbohydrates are divided into four major
groups—
• Monosaccharides
• disaccharides,
• oligosaccharides and
• Polysaccharides (Starch and fibers are).
• Chief source of energy.
• Constituents of compound lipids and
conjugated proteins.
• Carbohydrates are one of the essential food
ingredients
• We encounter carbohydrates at every turn of
our lives.
• The paper, the cotton clothes and the wooden
furniture made of cellulose.
 Lipids
• Lipids are naturally occurring hydrophobic
molecules. They are heterogenous group of
compounds related to fatty acids.
• They include fats, oils, waxes, phospholipids,
etc.
• Lipids are greasy or oily organic substances;
• lipids are sparingly soluble in water and
are soluble in organic solvents like chloroform,
ether and benzene.
• Related either actually or potentially to the
fattyacids.
 Bloor’s Criteria
• According to Bloor, lipids are compounds
having the following characteristics:
• They are insoluble in water.
• Solubility in one or more organic solvents, such
as ether, chloroform, benzene, acetone, etc, so
called fat solvents.
• Some relationship to the fatty acids as esters
either actual or potential.
• Chemically they are various types of esters of
different alcohols.
• Thus, lipids include fats, oils, waxes and related
compounds.
• An oil is a lipid which is liquid at ordinary
Temperature.
•Distinction between fats and oils is a purely physical
one.
•Chemically they are all esters of glycerol with higher
fatty acids.
• In addition to alcohol and fatty acids, some of the
lipids may contain phosphoric acid, nitrogenous
base and carbohydrates.
 Amino acids
• Amino acids: Protein molecules are very
large molecules with a high molecular weight
ranging from 5000 to 25,00,000.
• Protein can be broken down into smaller
units by hydrolysis.
• These small units the monomers of proteins
are called as amino acids.
• Proteins are made up from, 20 such standard
amino acids in different sequences and
numbers.
• Thus proteins are the unbranched polymers
of L- α-amino acids.
• The L- α-amino acid has a general formula
as shown below:
• R is called a side chain and can be a
hydrogen, aliphatic, aromatic or
heterocyclic group.
• Each amino acid has an amino group –NH2,
a carboxylic acid group
• – COOH and a hydrogen atom each
attached to carbon located next to the –
COOH group.
Thus the side chain varies from one amino acid to
the Other
 Nucleic acids
• Nucleotide is defined as the basic building
block of nucleic acid with characteristic
arrangement of the base units
• Nucleic acids are mainly formed by three
structural units; phosphate group, sugar
molecule and nitrogenous bases.
• Two types of nucleic acids;
1.DNA and
2.RNA
• Nucleotides are nitrogen containing organic
compounds, which form the monomers of
nucleic acids that are involved in the
information transfer system of the cells.
• A nucleotide is the genetic message carrying
unit.
• They are also involved in the mechanism of
energy transfer in cells.
• A nucleotide is a compound containing carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorous.
• A molecule of a nucleotide is in turn composed
of three smaller molecules phosphate (P) sugar
(S) and nitrogen base (N).
• The nitrogen base molecule is attached to the
sugar molecule by a glycosidic bond.
• A combination of nitrogen base with sugar is
called as a “Nucleoside”.
• Nucleosides involving ribose sugars are called
ribonucleosides.
• Similarly, nucleosides involving deoxyribose
sugars are called deoxy ribonucleosides.
• A nucleoside combines with a phosphate group
to form a compound called “Nucleotide”.
• The sugar and the base combination is called a
nucleoside and with phosphorus addition it
becomes a nucleotide.
• Nucleotides formed by ribonucleosides are
called ribonucleotides.
• They form the “Monomers” of ribose nucleic
acid (RNA).
• Nucleotides formed by deoxyribonucleosides
are called deoxyribonucleotides.
• They form the “Monomers” of deoxyribose
nucleic acid (DNA).
Formation of Nucleotide
 AMP, ADP & ATP
• The nucleotides which form nucleic acids have
only one phosphate group (monophosphates).
• Each of them can form a diphosphate and a
triphosphate.
• Linkage of additional phosphate group occurs at
the cost of a large amount of energy.
• The bonds that join the additional phosphate
groups are called as high energy or energy rich
bonds.
• Separation of these additional phosphate groups
from the nucleotides by enzymatic hydrolysis
releases correspondingly large amount of energy.
• Hence, these higher nucleotides (with one or
two additional phosphates) form energy rich
compounds.
• Adenine + Pentose Sugar - Adenosine
(Adenine Nucleoside)
• Adenosine + Phosphate - Adenylic Acid or
Adenosine Mono Phosphate (AMP)(Adenine
Nucleotide)
• Adenosine Monophosphate + Phosphate -
Adenosine Diphosphate(ADP)
• Adenosine Diphosphate + Phosphate -
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)
Topic is Over
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