Organic

compounds of
life II.

Proteins, nucleic acids

Cells Contain Four Major Families of Small Organic
Molecules and their larger polymers
Aminoacids, peptides,
polipeptides (proteins)
Proteins’ functions
 Protein Function
Some examples

• Structure- form structural components of the cell including:

– Cytoskeleton / nuclear matrix / tissue matrix
• Lamins, collagen, keratin…….

• Movement - Coordinate internal and external movement of cells,

organells, tissues, and molecules.
– Muscle contraction, chromosome separation, flagella………
• Micro-tubules, actin, myosin

• Transport-regulate transport of molecules into and out of the cell /

nucleus / organelles.
• Channels, receptors, dynein, kinesin

• Communication-serve as communication molecules between

different organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organisms.
– Hormones
 Protein Function
Some examples

• Chemical Catalyst – serves to make possible all of the

chemical reactions that occur within the cell.
– Enzymes (thousands of different enzymes)

• Defense-recognize self and non-self, able to destroy foreign

entities (bacteria, viruses, tissues).
– Antibodies, cellular immune factors

• Regulatory-regulates cell proliferation, cell growth, gene

expression, and many other aspects of cell and organism life
cycle.
– Checkpoint proteins, cyclins, transcription factors
 There are 20 different amino acids

Can be Come
made from
by the the
body food
Peptide bonds
A small
part of the
protein
molecule

The side-chain
The amino orientation
acid sequence
is the
primary
structure of
a polipeptide
Figure 4-2 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)
 How a protein folds into a compact conformation?

Figure 4-5 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

 Three types of noncovalent bonds that help proteins fold

Figure 4-4 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

 How a protein folds into a compact conformation?
Hydrogen bonds in a protein molecule

Figure 4-6 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

Secondary
structure of a
protein:

α helix and the β

sheet

Figure 4-10 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

Tertiary structure of a
protein molecule
 Examples and importance of
structural characteristics

The active site of an enzyme

Figure 4-18 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

 What are protein domains?
structural units within one
polypeptide chain that fold more or
less independently of each other
(within the tertiary structure)

Figure 4-16 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

Quaternary structure of a
protein molecule:
More than one subunit

Note: Protein domains are structuraly separated units within the same
chain, while subunits are separate chains, that bound into each other..
Figure 4-19 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)
Figure 4-20 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)
Summarizing the structural levels of the proteins
Protein
assemblies

Figure 4-21 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

Packed together globular protein subunits
can form either a flat sheet a sphere, a
filament or a tube.
 The helical arrangement of actin molecules in an
actin filament

Figure 4-22 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

A collection of
protein molecules,
shown at the same
scale
Nucleotides →Nucleic acids
(DNA, RNA)
James Watson & Francis Crick

1953
 Nucleic Acids
• DNA –deoxyribonucleic acid
– Polymer of deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate (dNTP)
– 4 types of dNTP (ATP, CTP, TTP, GTP)
– All made of a base + sugar + triphosphate

• RNA –ribonucleic acid

– Polymer of ribonucleotide triphosphates (NTP)
– 4 types of NTP (ATP, CTP, UTP, GTP)
– All made of a base + sugar + triphosphate

• So what’s the difference?

– The sugar (ribose vs. deoxyribose) and one base (UTP vs.
TTP)
Nucleotides
Bases of nucleotides
Sugars of nucleotides
 Nomenclature of
nucleotides/nucleosides/
bases
 DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

Antiparallel strands The rules of base-pairing

Primary structure of DNA: The double helix

Nucleotide sequence
DNA’s secundary structure
 Tertyary, quaternary, etc. Structures
of DNA:

Further fordings

Figure 5-25 Essential Cell Biology (© Garland Science 2010)

 Chromatin

heterochromatin
euchromatin
Comparison of the DNA and RNA structure
Types of RNA
 Functions of RNA types

What different types of RNA-s do you

know?
Make a scetch of the basic structure of a generalised amino acid and
name the parts of the molecule!
Set out some basic biological function of proteins with examples!
How a peptide bound is formed between two amino acids?
What does the primary structure of a protein means?
What does the secundary structure of a protein means?
What does the tertiary structure of a protein means?
What non-covalent chemical bounds do you know in a polipeptide chain?
What does a protein domain means?
Some of amino acids are essential. Why?

What are the main differences between the structure of RNA and DNA?
What does the secondary structure of a DNA means?
What is the difference between eu- and heterochromatin?
Make a scethc of a DNA nucleotide!
What is the chromatin composed by chemically?
What different types of RNA-s do you know?