Chemical Composition of Cell

Doc. dr Nikolina Elez-Burnjaković

• Major elements:
C (carbon), H (hydrogen), O (oxygen),
N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus),
S (sulfur)

• Inorganic compounds:
water, salts

• Organic compounds:
carbohydrates, lipids, proteins,
and nucleic acids
 • Universal solvent WATER
• Polar molecule (positive and negative charge) – capillary movement
• Ions and polar molecules are readily soluble in water (hydrophilic)
• Nonpolar molecules, which cannot interact with water, are poorly
soluble in an aqueous environment (hydrophobic)
• It has the property of ionization (H+ = OH-)
• Relationship H+ /OH- ions - pH scale

H+ >OH- - Acidic solutions

H+ <OH- - Alkaline solutions
• The main source of energy – energy storage
• Structural components of the cell
• Cell recognition, adhesion

Carbohydrates
• Monosaccharides – simple sugars
• Building component of complex sugars
• Basic formula : (CH2O)n
Deoxyribose

Glucose Fructose Ribose

• Monosaccharides joined together by dehydration reactions, in
which H2O is removed and the sugars are linked by a glycosidic
bond between two of their carbons
• Oligosaccharide (saccharose, sucrose – glucose and fructose,
lactose – glucose and galactose)
• Polysaccharides (energy storage – glycogen, starch; cell
structure – cellulose, chitin)

Cellulose
Starch Glycogen
 Division:
1. Simple lipids (oils, waxes, tallow)
2. Complex lipids (phospholipids)
LIPIDS
3. Sterol lipids

Lipids are esters of trihydroxyl alcohol glycerol and fatty acids,

and are therefore called triacylglycerides

Function:
1. Energy storage
2. Structural components of the cell
3. Cell signaling
 Examples of saturated fatty acids

Common name Chemical structure

Caprylic acid CH3(CH2)6COOH
Capric acid CH3(CH2)8COOH
Lauric acid CH3(CH2)10COOH
Myristic acid CH3(CH2)12COOH
Palmitic acid CH3(CH2)14COOH
Stearic acid CH3(CH2)16COOH
Arachidic acid CH3(CH2)18COOH
Behenic acid CH3(CH2)20COOH
Lignoceric acid CH3(CH2)22COOH
Cerotic acid CH3(CH2)24COOH
 Examples of unsaturated fatty acids

Common name Chemical structure

Myristoleic acid CH3(CH2)3CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
Palmitoleic acid CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
Sapienic acid CH3(CH2)8CH=CH(CH2)4COOH
Oleic acid CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
Elaidic acid CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
Vaccenic acid CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)9COOH
Linoleic acid CH3(CH2)4CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
Linoelaidic acid CH3(CH2)4CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
α-Linolenic acid CH3CH2CH=CHCH2CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)7COOH
Arachidonic acid CH3(CH2)4CH=CHCH2CH=CHCH2CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)3COOH
Erucic acid CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)11COOH
• Glycerol
• Hydrophilic head
group

• Hydrophobic tails
consisting of the
two fatty acids
hydrocarbon
chains
 Function:

 Energy storage in cell

• With lipolysis (metabolic pathway), pancreatic lipase
hydrolyzed lipid triglycerides into a glycerol and three fatty
acids
• Fatty acids are activated and transported to the mitochondria
where they are broken down by the process of beta-oxidation
of fatty acids to acetyl-CoA which enters the Krebs cycle
• Beta-oxidation of fatty acids also takes place in peroxisomes

Degradation of one molecule of palmitic acid yields 108

ATPs
step-1 step-2

The process of lipolysis (in a fat cell) induced by

high epinephrine and low insulin levels in the
blood. Epinephrine binds to a beta-
Transport of free fatty acids in the blood
adrenergic receptor in the cell wall of the
attached to plasma albumin, its diffusion
adipocyte, which causes cAMP to be generated across the cell membrane using a protein
inside the cell. The cAMP activates a protein
transporter, and its activation, using ATP, to
kinase, which phosphorylates and thus, in turn,
activates a hormone-sensitive lipase in the fat form acyl-CoA in the cytosol. The illustration
is, for diagrammatic purposes, of a 12 carbon
cell. This lipase cleaves free fatty acids from their
attachment to glycerol in the fat stored in the fat fatty acid. Most fatty acids in human plasma
are 16 or 18 carbon atoms long.
droplet of the adipocyte. The free fatty acids and
glycerol are then released into the blood.
The transfer of an acyl-CoA molecule across
the inner membrane of
the mitochondrion by carnitine-acyl-CoA
transferase (CAT). The illustrated acyl chain
is, for diagrammatic purposes, only 12
carbon atoms long. Most fatty acids in
human plasma are 16 or 18 carbon atoms
long. CAT is inhibited by high concentrations
of malonyl-CoA (the first committed step
in fatty acid synthesis) in the cytoplasm. This
means that fatty acid synthesis and fatty acid
catabolism cannot occur simultaneously in
any given cell.
The process of the beta-oxidation of an acyl-CoA
molecule in the mitochodrial matrix. During this
process an acyl-CoA molecule which is 2 carbons
shorter than it was at the beginning of the
process is formed. Acetyl-CoA, water and
5 ATP molecules are the other products of each
beta-oxidative event, until the entire acyl-CoA
molecule has been reduced to a set of acetyl-
CoA molecules.
 Structural components of the cell membranes
....cholin, serin, inszitol or ethanolamin
....cell membranes contains glycolipids
and cholesterol
• belongs to steroids
Cholesterol
• present in all cell membranes except bacterial
Lipids are also regulatory moleculs- steroid
hormons
 PROTEINS
Heterogeneous group of organic compounds
Heterogeneous group of organic compounds

• Perform a wide variety of functions: structural components,

acting in the transport and storage of small molecules (e.g.,
the transport of oxygen by hemoglobin), transmitting
information between cells (e.g., protein hormones), and
providing a defense against infection (e.g., antibodies).
• Catalyze nearly all the chemical reactions in biological systems
-enzymes
• Polypeptides are linear chains of amino acids - polymers
 Peptide bond

• The amino acids are grouped into four categories according to the
properties of their side chains: nonpolar, polar, basic, and acidic
• 20 amino acids
• Levels of protein structure:

Primary structure
Linear sequence of amino
acid residues

Secundary structure
Refers to the way that linear
Two kind of
sequence of amino acid folds
patterns
upon itself. Determined by
hydrogen bonds.

Tertiary structure
Higher order of folding.
Stabilized by hydrogen
bonds, disulfide bridges,
van der Waals.
Quaternary structure
Protein made of multiple
polypeptides
• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)  NUCLEIC
• Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
ACIDS
Major informational molecules in cell

DNA and RNA are polymers of nucleotides

Basic unit - nucelotide
Nucleotides: ATP, FAD, NAD, NADP
Levels of protein structure:

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-
prep/mcat/biomolecules/amino-acids-and-
proteins1/v/four-levels-of-protein-
structure#:~:text=The%20four%20levels%20of
%20protein,understand%20how%20a
%20protein%20works.