Molecules of Life

The stuff we’re made of

 Water
• The human body is mostly water
– Lean muscle: 75% water
– Blood: 83% water
– Body fat: 25% water
– Bone: 22% water
• All living organisms require water to live
 Properties of Water
• Water is a polar
δ-
molecule
O
– Each atom has a
partial charge
H H
– Molecule has zero net δ+ δ+
charge δ-
O -
• Polar molecules have δ

special properties O
H H
– Good solvents δ+ δ+
H H
– Bond with each other δ
+
δ
+
(cohesion)
– Take longer to heat
and cool
 Properties of Water
• Water molecules are
attracted to molecules
of solid surfaces
(adhesion)
• Adhesion allows
water to move
through very small
pores or tubes
against gravity
(capillary action)
Nutritional Label
Five Structural Group
 Macromolecules
Monomer Polymer

Amino acid Protein

Nucleotide Nucleic Acid (DNA)

Monosaccharide Carbohydrate (starch)

Fatty acid Lipid (fat molecule)

 Types of Organic Molecules
• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Nucleic acids
• Proteins
 Proteins
• Structural building blocks of cells in all tissues (not just
muscle!)
• Polymers composed of 300 – 100k+ monomers
• Monomers are called amino acid
• There are 20 amino acids, many of which must come
from your diet
 Protein Structure
• Primary structure – the
order of amino acids making
up the polymer string

• Secondary structure –
helixes and sheets of the
polymer string folding on
itself
 Protein Structure
• Tertiary structure – globs of • Quaternary Structure – individual
sheets and helixes folding around proteins bound to each other to form a
each other multi-protein unit with is own unique
function
Hemoglobin carries oxygen in the blood
 Functional Proteins

Transport proteins :
RBC contain Structural proteins
Enzymes: chemical
hemoglobin (collagen)
reactions

Structural proteins
Contractile proteins :
(keratin) Defensive proteins : WBC
Actin & Myosin
 Nucleic Acids
• The genetic material in any
cell
– Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
and Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
– Polymer chains composed of a
combination of 5 different
monomers
 Nucleic Acids
• The monomers are called
nucleotides
– Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine,
Thymine (DNA only), Uracil (RNA
only)
– Bond in specific pairs
– Adenine – Thymine (Uracil)
– Guanine – Cytosine
• Nucleic acid polymers are
millions of monomers long,
wound in a double helix
• Helix unwinds during
replication (copying)
 DNA Trivia
• The DNA from a single human cell has a
length of ~ 5.9 feet.
• The biggest cells are less than 0.1 inches
across
• How can so much DNA fit in a cell?
 Carbohydrates
• Molecules used for energy, made of C H O
– Monosaccharide: a simple sugar (glucose, fructose,
galactose)
– Disaccharide: two monosaccharides bound together
(sucrose aka table sugar)

– Polysaccharide: 3 or more monosaccharides (starch is

hundreds of glucose molecules bonded together)
Carbohydrate and their function
Carbohydrate Description

Lactose Milk sugar

Sucrose Table sugar found in sugar cane,

sugar beets, honey

Glucose Blood sugar

Maltose Sugar from grains like barley

Starch Found in potato, wheat

Glycogen A Glucose stored in muscles and liver

Cellulose Found in cell wall of plants

Chitin Found in the external skeletons of

insects and crustaceans
 Carbohydrates

Glycogen stored in liver cells (red)

Starch compartments in potato cells

Cellulose in plant cell walls (outer blue layer)
 Lipids
• Fatty compounds made of C H O, don’t
interact with water (hydrophobic)
– Cell membranes are composed two lipid layers,
which keep water from crossing
• Lipids are polymers made up of fatty acid
monomers
– Fatty acids have oily “tails” and polar “heads”

Polar Non polar

(Yay water!) (Boo water!)
 Lipid Layers
• Lipids in water will arrange
themselves to hide their
hydrophobic tails

• Cell membranes are

composed of a phospholipid
bi-layer

• What is a phospholipid?
 Other Lipids
• Waxes
• Oils
• Steroids
Actin fibers in skeletal muscle cells
Proteins make up the cell cytoskeleton
Enzymes to copy and repair DNA