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Biochemistry Review Sheet

Organic v Inorganic
Inorganic molecules not containing carbon and hydrogen
Examples: water (H2O), salt (NaCl)
Organic anything that contains a carbon bonded to a
hydrogen (C-H)
Four groups of Organic Molecules:
Lipids
Fats and oils
Made by combining 1 glycerol and 3
fatty acids
Contain C-H-O
Hydrophobic tail and Hydrophilic head
cell membrane
looks like a letter E

more energy than carbohydrates b/c they have more bonds (bonds=energy, so more bonds=
more energy)
saturated fats (solid at room temp, animal) contain all C-C single bonds, and have a straight
shape
unsaturated fats (liquid at room temp, from plants) have some C=C double bonds and have
a crooked shape
Carbohydrates
Sugars and Starches
Ex: Glucose (C6H12 O6), Starch, Cellulose, Sucrose
End in OSE typically (except for the polysaccharides)
Made by combining simple sugars (monosaccharides)
o Example: Glucose
o each simple sugar/monosaccharide looks like a ring
2 rings/sugars/glucose put together = disaccharide
o ex: fructose (in fruit), sucrose (in candy, table sugar), maltose
3 or more rings/sugars/glucose put together = polysaccharide
o ex: starch (how plants store extra carbohydrates), glycogen (how animals store extra
carbohydrates, cellulose (makes up cell walls)
Contains C-H-O in a specific ratio of 1:2:1
Proteins
Found in meat
make up your hair, nails, skin
Made by linking amino acids together
o amino acids are linked together by peptide bonds

20 different amino acids: all have a center C surrounded by 4 groups. Every single
amino acid has these three groups: amino group, carboxyl (acid) group, and a H. The
one thing that is different on each amino acid is the R side-chain group.
You will be able to tell which one this is by looking for the amino group,
carboxyl group, and H around the central C. The only group left is the
R/side chain group.
Contain C-H-O-N
The specific amino acids that make up a protein have different properties such as
hydrophilic or hydrophobic
o these properties determine how the protein folds (its shape!)
THE SHAPE (aka. form) OF THE PROTEIN DETERMINES HOW IT FUNCTIONS!!
If the amino acids are wrong or if the protein folds wrong, it wont
have the shape its supposed to and wont be able to do its job
proteins have very specific pH (acidity) and temperature that they work best
at (their optimal temperature/pH). If they exceed these, they will unfold, or
denature and wont be able to perform their job.
Enzymes are proteins
o Enzymes are a catalyst (speed up chemical reactions)
o name typically end in ASE
o have a very specific shape that only fits a certain substrate, like a lock and key
wont work on anything that doesnt fit their shape

Nucleic Acids

Enzyme activity is affected by 3 things:

-Temperature
-Substrate concentration
-pH

DNA and RNA

Contains C-H-O-N-P
Building block = nucleotides
Nucleotides are made up of a sugar (looks like a house), phosphate (looks like a circular
pool), and a nitrogen base (looks like a garage)
o in DNA, sugar is deoxyribose and the possible bases are ATGC
o in RNA, sugar is ribose and the possible bases are AUGC
DNA has two strands and is in the shape of a double helix
RNA only has one strand

Building and Breaking Apart Molecules

Building: Dehydration synthesis- losing water, putting smaller building blocks together to make a larger
molecule
Breaking apart/digesting: Hydrolysis- adding water and breaking apart a larger molecule into its smaller
component building blocks