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THESTRUCTUREANDFUNCTION
OFMACROMOLECULES
SectionC:LipidsDiverseHydrophobicMolecules
1. Fatsstorelargeamountsofenergy
2. Phospholipidsaremajorcomponentsofcellmembranes
3. Steroidsincludecholesterolandcertainhormones
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Introduction
Lipidsareanexceptionamongmacromolecules
becausetheydonothavepolymers.
Theunifyingfeatureoflipidsisthattheyallhave
littleornoaffinityforwater.
Thisisbecausetheirstructuresaredominatedby
nonpolarcovalentbonds.
Lipidsarehighlydiverseinformandfunction.
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
1.Fatsstorelargeamountsofenergy
Althoughfatsarenotstrictlypolymers,theyarelarge
moleculesassembledfromsmallermoleculesby
dehydrationreactions.
Afatisconstructedfromtwokindsofsmaller
molecules,glycerolandfattyacids.
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Glycerolconsistsofathreecarbonskeletonwith
ahydroxylgroupattachedtoeach.
Afattyacidconsistsofacarboxylgroup
attachedtoalongcarbonskeleton,often16to18
carbonslong.
Fig.5.10a
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
ThemanynonpolarCHbondsinthelong
hydrocarbonskeletonmakefatshydrophobic.
Inafat,threefattyacidsarejoinedtoglycerolby
anesterlinkage,creatingatriacylglycerol.
Fig.5.10b
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Thethreefattyacidsinafatcanbethesameor
different.
Fattyacidsmayvaryinlength(numberofcarbons)
andinthenumberandlocationsofdoublebonds.
Ifthereareno
carboncarbon
doublebonds,
thenthemolecule
isasaturatedfatty
acidahydrogen
ateverypossible
position.
Fig.5.11a
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Ifthereareoneormorecarboncarbondoublebonds,then
themoleculeisanunsaturatedfattyacidformedby
theremovalofhydrogenatomsfromthecarbonskeleton.
Saturatedfattyacids
arestraightchains,
butunsaturatedfatty
acidshaveakink
whereverthereis
adoublebond.
Fig.5.11b
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Fatswithsaturatedfattyacidsaresaturatedfats.
Mostanimalfatsaresaturated.
Saturatedfataresolidatroomtemperature.
Adietrichinsaturatedfatsmaycontributeto
cardiovasculardisease(atherosclerosis)throughplaque
deposits.
Fatswithunsaturatedfattyacidsareunsaturated
fats.
Plantandfishfats,knownasoils,areliquidareroom
temperature.
Thekinksprovidedbythedoublebondspreventthe
moleculesfrompackingtightlytogether.
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Themajorfunctionoffatsisenergystorage.
Agramoffatstoresmorethantwiceasmuchenergyasa
gramofapolysaccharide.
Plantsusestarchforenergystoragewhenmobilityisnot
aconcernbutuseoilswhendispersalandpackingis
important,asinseeds.
Humansandothermammalsstorefatsaslongterm
energyreservesinadiposecells.
Fatalsofunctionstocushionvitalorgans.
Alayeroffatscanalsofunctionasinsulation.
Thissubcutaneouslayerisespeciallythickinwhales,
seals,andmostothermarinemammals.
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
2.Phospholipidsaremajorcomponentsof
cellmembranes
Phospholipidshavetwofattyacidsattachedto
glycerolandaphosphategroupatthethirdposition.
Thephosphategroupcarriesanegativecharge.
Additionalsmallergroupsmaybeattachedtothephosphate
group.
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Theinteractionofphospholipidswithwateris
complex.
Thefattyacidtailsarehydrophobic,butthephosphate
groupanditsattachmentsformahydrophilichead.
Fig.5.12
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Whenphospholipidsareaddedtowater,theyself
assembleintoaggregateswiththehydrophobictails
pointingtowardthecenterandthehydrophilic
headsontheoutside.
Thistypeofstructureiscalledamicelle.
Fig.5.13a
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
Atthesurfaceofacellphospholipidsarearrangedas
abilayer.
Again,thehydrophilicheadsareontheoutsideincontact
withtheaqueoussolutionandthehydrophobictailsfrom
thecore.
Thephospholipidbilayerformsabarrierbetweenthecell
andtheexternalenvironment.
Theyarethemajorcomponentofmembranes.
Fig.5.12b
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings
3.Steroidsincludecholesterolandcertain
hormones
Steroidsarelipidswithacarbonskeletonconsisting
offourfusedcarbonrings.
Differentsteroidsarecreatedbyvaryingfunctionalgroups
attachedtotherings.
Fig.5.14
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Cholesterol,animportantsteroid,isacomponentin
animalcellmembranes.
Cholesterolisalsotheprecursorfromwhichall
othersteroidsaresynthesized.
Manyoftheseothersteroidsarehormones,includingthe
vertebratesexhormones.
Whilecholesterolisclearlyanessentialmolecule,
highlevelsofcholesterolinthebloodmay
contributetocardiovasculardisease.
Copyright2002PearsonEducation,Inc.,publishingasBenjaminCummings