BIOCHEMIST

RY
21- Ribonucleic
Acid (RNA)
PRESENTED BY:
DR. MOHAMMED SALEH
MBCHB
Dr. Mohammed
Saleh
MBChB
Baghdad University

Peaks Medical Academy

2
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
Types & Functions
 Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
■ In contrast to DNA, RNA is composed of a single
polynucleotide chain.
 There are several important differences between RNA and
DNA:
– the pentose sugar in RNA is ribose, in DNA it’s deoxyribose
– in RNA, uracil replaces the base thymine (U pairs with A)
– RNA is single stranded while DNA is double stranded
– RNA molecules are considerably smaller than DNA
molecules
– RNA is found inside and outside of the nucleus; DNA is
found only inside the nucleus
 There are three main types of RNA:
– messenger (mRNA), transfer (tRNA) and ribosomal
(rRNA).
A. Ribosomal RNA (r RNA)
■ The ribosome is composed of rRNA and
protein.
■ rRNAs are present in association with several
proteins as structural components of the
ribosomes.
■ rRNA make up about 80% of the total RNA in
the cell.
■ Ribosome is the site of protein biosynthesis in
the cell.
■ Therefore, the number of ribosomes increased in
the cells which are specializing in protein
synthesis, such as liver cells.
Ribosomal RNA and Messenger RNA
■ Ribosomes are the sites of protein synthesis
– they consist of ribosomal RNA about (65%) and proteins
(35%)
– they have two subunits, a large one and a small one
B. Messenger RNA (mRNA)
■ It comprises only about 5% of the RNA
in the cell.
■ mRNA carries genetic information from
the nuclear DNA to the cytosol, where it
is used as the template for protein
synthesis.
■ It is widely different in size and base
sequences.
■ It contains coding regions to be
translated in addition to other
untranslated regulatory regions at both
5′- and 3′-ends.
B. Messenger RNA (mRNA)
■ Special structural characteristics of eukaryotic mRNA include a long
sequence of adenine nucleotides (a “poly-A tail”) on the 3′-end of the
RNA chain, plus a “cap” on the 5′-end consisting of a molecule of 7-
methylguanosine.
■ mRNA is built inside nucleus as a complementary to a piece of one strand
of DNA following Base Paring Rule.
■ Its sequence is copied from genetic DNA
■ If there is guanine in DNA, cytosine is found in mRNA; if there is
adenine in DNA, uracil is found in mRNA.
C. Transfer RNA (tRNA)
■ Transports amino acids to the ribosomes where they are joined
together to make proteins.
■ tRNA make up about 15% of the total RNA in the cell.
■ There is at least one specific type of tRNA molecule for each of the
twenty amino acids commonly found in proteins.
■ Each tRNA can recognize the signal or the message on the mRNA by
its anticodon sequence (anticodon loop), so that it brings up the
specific amino acid covalently attached to its 3′-end to add it to the
growing polypeptide chain.
■ The shape of the molecule looks like a Clover-Leaf.
THANK YOU
Dr. Mohammed Saleh