There are 4 main macromolecules that make up living things: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Carbohydrates include sugars and starches and are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They serve functions like energy storage. Proteins are made of amino acids and perform roles such as building muscle. Lipids include fats and cholesterol and contain hydrocarbon chains. Nucleic acids include DNA and RNA and contain nucleotides that code for traits and proteins. The document provides detailed information about the structures, functions, and examples of these four important macromolecule groups.

2.  Thereare a ton of elements involved in life
processes but thankfully, all of them can
be divided into 4 main groups:
1. Carbohydrates
______________________
2. Proteins
______________________
3. Lipids
______________________
4. Nucleic Acids
______________________ Don’t pretend you aren’t
jealous of this sweet Tee.

3.  What3 elements comprise all carbo-
hydrates and in what arrangement?
• It’s important that your remember this…especially if you plan to
take the SAT!

4.  Most
carbohydrates have a common suffix.
What is it?
“-ose”

5.  Can you name some carbs?
• The group that can come up with the most will
receive some carbs, too! (Just make sure you burn ‘em
off, or they’ll end up on those hips!)
Game on.
Glucose Cellulose
Fructose Ribose
Maltose Deoxyribose
Sucrose Starch
Lactose Chitin

6.  The scientific term for a carbohydrate is a
saccharide
______________________, which literally
translates to sugar.
 Carbs range from very simple molecules to
very complex molecules. Name ‘em.
Increasing complexity
Monosaccharide Disaccharide Polysaccharide

7.  Thesimplest sugars are referred to as
monosaccharides.
 What is a monosaccharide?
A single-ringed carb.
 What does one look like?
Pentagonal Hexagonal

8.  Whatare some examples of
monosaccharides?
Glucose Dextrose Ribose

9.  Asyou already know, the chemical formula of
almost all carbs is a mix of Carbon, Hydrogen
and Oxygen in a 1:2:1 ratio. Some sugars even
have the same exact chemical formula but have
different structural formulas.

10.  Can you think of 2 monosaccharides that have
the same chemical formula but a completely
different structural formula?
*This will be an exam question!

11. GLUCOSE FRUCTOSE
 C6H12O6  C6H12O6
 Bland taste  70X sweeter
 Hexagonal than glucose
 Pentagonal
CH2OH
O
C O OH CH2OH
H OH
H C C
C C HO2HC H
OH H H
OH H OH
C C C C
H OH H OH

12.  What is a disaccharide?
A 2-ringed carb (AKA, carb made
of 2 monosacc’s.)
Sucrose Maltose Lactose

13.  What is a polysaccharide?
A carb made of many
rings or monosacc’s.

14.  Depending on their structure and the
monosaccharides they’re comprised of,
polysacchardies can have one of 2 functions…
…storing energy or providing structure!
FAMOUS POLYSACCHARIDES
STORING ENERGY... PROVIDING STRUCTURE...
In plants... In animals.... In plants... In animals...

15. Converted to
glycogen in
humans!

16. Stored in muscles and
burned off during physical
activity.

17. Makes up cell
walls of plant
cells.

18. Comprises the
exoskeleton of
arthropods.

19. Why is it so appropriate to differentiate between
the “road muffin” of a horse and the “cow pie” of a
cow?
Because cows can break down
cellulose…horses cannot! (Hence, the
consistency of the dung…)

20.  How are disaccharides built?
By removing water!
 What is this process called?
“Dehydration Synthesis”or “Condensation”

22.  The human body cannot utilize most complex
carbohydrates. Instead, they have to be broken
down into smaller monosaccharides. How does
this work?
By adding
water!
(“Hydrolysis”)

23.  Over 50
_________% of all the organic
compounds in your body are composed of
protein. What is the main function of
protein?
To make us 3D!


24.  Because proteins are so numerous, there’s no
way you’re going to be able to memorize all the
different types. However, most proteins can be
lumped into 3 categories…
1. Membranous proteins
_____________________________________
2. Enzymes
_____________________________________
3. Hormones
_____________________________________

25.  Since there are such a large number of proteins, the
number of functions are also unending. Can you
name at least 5 basic functions of protein?
1.) Building muscle

26.  Since there are such a large number of proteins, the
number of functions are also unending. Can you
name at least 5 basic functions of protein?
2.) Catalyzing rxns (using enzymes)

27.  Since there are such a large number of proteins, the
number of functions are also unending. Can you
name at least 5 basic functions of protein?
3.) Signaling responses
(hormones)

28.  Since there are such a large number of proteins, the
number of functions are also unending. Can you
name at least 5 basic functions of protein?
4.) Helping with cellular interactions

29.  Since there are such a large number of proteins, the
number of functions are also unending. Can you
name at least 5 basic functions of protein?
5.) Provide structure/support

30.  Likecarbs, proteins also have a basic
subunit or monomer. It is called an
amino acid
_______________.
 Similarly,just as almost all carbs have the
suffix “-ose,” almost all amino acids have
the suffix ______________ with the
-“ine”
exception of 3.

31.  How many total amino
acids are there on the
20
planet? ____
 How many amino acids are
9
essential to human life? ____

33.  There are 3 components to an amino acid:
carboxyl group
amino group
“R-group”

34.  In order to build a house, you need to
stack some bricks. Think of amino acids as
“bricks” and the complete protein as the
“house.”
Amino Acid
House Protein
Amino
Bricks
Acids
Complete Protein

35.  Howdoes one build a protein? (i.e., how are
amino acids linked?)
Dehydration synthesis!
• Draw a diagram to show how proteins are built!
peptide bond
AA AA OH HO AA AA AA
dipeptide polypeptide
H2O
removed (complete protein)

36.  Depending on how the
polypeptides are arranged,
they can form 4 basic structures
of proteins (which, of course,
have different functions):
1. Primary protein
2. Secondary protein
3. Tertiary protein
4. Quaternary

37. PROTEIN SHAPE ROLE
Linear
Nonfunctional
(simple chain)
Folded Nonfunctional;
or structural only!
Spiraled Makes up hair.
Functional
Coiled Ball
(e.g., enzymes)
Group of Functional
coiled balls (e.g., hemoglobin)

38.  Just as proteins are built through dehydration synthesis,
hydrolysis
they are broken down by ______________________.
 protein
This disassembling of proteins is called _________________
denaturation
_____________________ and can be caused by a number of
factors, including…
1.) heat
2.) acids/bases
3.) heavy metals
4.) alcohol
5.) excessive sodium

39.  What is a lipid?
Any hydrophobic substance…anything
that repels water.
 Howcan you distinguish lipids from other
molecules?
“Hydrocarbon” chains.

40.  Technically, lipids are not synonymous
with fats.
Lipids≠ Fats
 What is a lipid then?
A CATEGORY that includes fats,
among other substances.

41. LIPIDS
Fat-soluble
Fats Waxes Steroids Vitamins
Triglycerides
(in food) Chol- Vitamins
A, D, E & K
esterol
Adipose
(in human body)

42.  Sincethere are 4 main types of lipids,
lipids also perform a variety of functions,
including, but not limited to…
1. Energy storage
___________________________________________
2. Cushion/Insulation
___________________________________________
3. Makes ear drum pliable
___________________________________________
4. Adds strength/fluidity to PM
___________________________________________
5. Maintains homeostasis!
___________________________________________

43.  Fats are, by far, the most notable of all the lipids.
“Fat” goes by many names. Fat tissue in the
adipose
human body is actually called ________________,
wherein, the fat that’s crammed into the food you
triglycerides
eat is called _________________________.

44.  Label the components of a triglyceride…
fatty acid
(notice, there are 3 of them)
Glycerol

45.  Whatis the difference between saturated
and unsaturated fats?
SATURATED FATS UNSATURATED FATS

47. WTF?
I don’t
think
so...get
the heck
out.

49. …but with the help of
Olestra, you can literally
make a hobby out it! 

51.  Asyou may have already guessed, fats (and all
other lipid hydrocarbon chains) are built by
dehydration synthesis
___________________________________________.

52.  How do you think they’re broken down?
(Is there a special name for this?)
By adding
water…Duh!
However, this
time it’s called
“Lipolysis.”

53.  Steroidsare, by far, the most diverse of all
lipids. The most important of all steroids
cholesterol
in humans is _________________________.

55.  Steroids
are also the primary structure in
many lipid hormones, such as
testosterone
_______________________________.

56.  What are the 2 main functions of
cholesterol?
1. To add strength or fluidity to PMs
________________________________________

57.  What are the 2 main functions of
cholesterol?
2. To serve as a “template” for
________________________________________
hormones and vitamins
________________________________________

58.  Regardless of a steroid’s
function, all steroids have
one thing in common...
…what is it?
They’re made
of 4 ester
rings.

59.  Recallthat some vitamins (A, D, E
& K) are fat-soluble lipids. What
exactly is a vitamin, anyway?
Any necessary
nutrient that your
body cannot make
in sufficient
quantities.

60.  Nucleic acids are the least diverse
group of organic compounds in
the human body. In fact, there
are only 2 types of naturally-
occurring nucleic acids on the
planet:
1. DNA
________________________________
2. RNA
________________________________

61.  What is DNA?
Your
“genetic blueprints”
 What is the shape of DNA?
Double Helix
(“winding ladder”)

62.  What are the 2 primary functions of DNA?
1. Code for traits
____________________________
(physical characteristics)
____________________________
____________________________
2. Code for RNA (the
recipe for protein)
____________________________

63.  All nucleic acids have basic building blocks
(or monomers) called
___________________________.
nucleotides
 What are the 3 parts of a nucleotide?
1) a nitrogenous base
_____________________________
deoxyribose sugar
2) _____________________________
a phosphate
3) _____________________________

64. = sugar
bases (A, T, C or G)
= phosphate

65.  Let’s
think of DNA as a
ladder…
• What are the “rungs” or “steps” of
the DNA ladder?
the bases
• What makes up the “side railing”
of the DNA ladder?
sugars and phosphates
• Do we have a better term for this
“side railing?”
The “sugar-phosphate backbone”

66.  All of the DNA in your body is made of around 6
billion total nucleotides. Just to give you a refer-
ence of how huge 6 billion is…if you were to try to
count to 6,000,000,000 (1 number/second) you
would finish by roughly your 208th birthday
 The craziest thing is…the majority of the 6 billion
nucleotides are exactly the same.
 Every single nucleotide is made up of an identical
molecule of deoxyribose sugar and an identical
molecule of phosphate

67.  Sowhat, then, makes one human being
different from another?
The arrangement (or
sequencing) of the
nitrogenous bases!
Let’s take a look.

68.  How many different nitrogenous bases are there
in DNA? ________
4
 We can divide these 4 bases into 2 main
categories based on structure. What are they,
what is their shape, and which bases are
included in each?
VS.

69. CATEGORY SHAPE BASES
2-ringed Adenine
Purines
Guanine
1-ringed Cytosine
Pyrimidine
Thymine

70.  How are you going to remember which bases
belong to which category for the test?
“Angels and God are PURE of heart.”
“Cool Tombs belong in PYRAMIDS.”

71.  Inorder to make DNA, the 2 nitrogenous bases
of nucleotides must be paired. What bases pair
with each other?
A—T
C—G
 We call bases that pair with one another
complementary
________________________________ bases.

72.  Why does always pair with ? Why
does always pair with ?
 Well, there are 3 reasons actually…
1.)
A purine must
always pair with a
pyrmidine.

73.  Why does always pair with ? Why
does always pair with ?
 Well, there are 3 reasons actually…
2.)
Hydrogen bonding…
and

74.  Why does always pair with ? Why
does always pair with ?
 Well, there are 3 reasons actually…
3.) “Chargaff’s Rule”...the # of As
matched the # of Ts, and so
forth.
30% 30% 20% 20%

75.  DNA is really long. Even
the Y chromosome, the
smallest in the entire
human genome, is more
than 30 million base pairs
long. From end to end,
DNA is about a meter
long…and we have to cram
it into our tiny, tiny
nucleus. That’s like trying
to cram a 300-meter long
rope into a backpack!

76.  So, the question remains…
*How the heck do we fit all of this DNA
into a tiny little nucleus?
 The answer…
By wrapping around
histone proteins
and coiling, and
super-coiling into
chromosomes!

77. WHEN DOES IT EXIST
DNA “FORM” PICTURE DESCRIPTION
IN THIS FORM?
Loosely Interphase
Chromatin packed (when the cell
DNA isn’t dividing)
Densely Mitosis or
Chromosomes packed Meiosis
DNA (during cell
division)

78.  What are genes? What do genes code for?
Sequences of nitrogenous bases.
They code for…
1. Traits
2. RNA
 Whatdo you call the part of a chromo-
some where genes are located?
The gene locus.

80.  Unfortunately,genes can also code for
, which is nothing more than an
abnormality in the base sequence of genes.

81.  DNA is so complex that it cannot just be “made” by your
body from scratch. Instead, each cell is responsible for
copying its DNA before dividing.
• DNA replication is very complex, but let’s simplify…
 DNA replication requires several enzymes, but you’re required to
remember the 2 most important.
ENZYME FUNCTION
DNA (1) unwinds and
Helicase (2) unzips DNA
Adds complementary
DNA
bases to “parent”
Polymerase
strand

82.  Draw the process of DNA replication…

83.  We call the process of “copying” DNA
semiconservative replication
__________________________________________________
because each “daughter” strand of DNA has half of the
“parent” DNA strand. In other words, we’ve conserved
the parent strand—half went to one daughter strand
and the other half went to the other!

84.  Recall that one of the functions of DNA is to code for
proteins. However, DNA can’t do it alone. Proteins are
made outside of the nucleus, and as we’ve discussed in
class, DNA never leaves the nucleus.
 So, how does DNA code for proteins?
By making a copy of the
protein recipe = RNA!

85. DNA RNA
Single-
“-stranded” Double-stranded
stranded
Sugar Deoxyribose Ribose
Nitrogenous Bases A,T, C, G A, U, C, G

86.  The process of “copying” DNA to make a strand of RNA
transcription
(recipe for protein) is called ___________________________.
 What enzyme is used?
1) RNA Polymerase
______________________________________

87. Key

88. “When making
RNA, Uracil
pairs with
Adenine, not
Thymine!”

89.  Theprocess of building amino acids requires the
cooperation of _______ and __________________
RNA ribosomes
translation
and is called __________________.