Topic: Biological Macromolecules

Sub topic: Monomers and Polymers

Biological Building Blocks

INTRODUCTION:

This lesson on the course Biological Science provides the fundamental information about the science
of biology. It presents a distinction of living organisms apart from the non-living organism. This also
presents the scientific process of proving facts through following the scientific method.

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. Examine the composition of polymers and monomers in relation to its proper naming,
2. Identify important characteristics of the Biological Molecules.
 LESSON PROPER

Many critical nutrients are biological macromolecules. The term “macromolecule” was first coined
in the 1920s by Nobel laureate Hermann Staudinger. Staudinger was the first to propose that many large
biological molecules are built by covalently linking smaller biological molecules together.

Monomers and Polymers

Biological macromolecules play a critical role in cell structure and function. Most (but not all)
biological macromolecules are polymers, which are any molecules constructed by linking together many
smaller molecules, called monomers. Typically all the monomers in a polymer tend to be the same, or at
least very similar to each other, linked over and over again to build up the larger macromolecule. These
simple monomers can be linked in many different combinations to produce complex biological polymers, just
as a few types of Lego blocks can build anything from a house to a car.

Biological macromolecules all contain carbon in ring or chain form, which means they are classified
as organic molecules. They usually also contain hydrogen and oxygen, as well as nitrogen and additional
minor elements.

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The molecule sucrose (common table sugar) The carbohydrate monosaccharides (fructose and
glucose) are joined to make the disaccharide sucrose.
 Many small monomer subunits combine to form this carbohydrate polymer. Examples of these
monomers and polymers can be found in the sugar you might put in your coffee or tea. Regular table
sugar is the disaccharide sucrose (a polymer), which is composed of the monosaccharides fructose
and glucose (which are monomers). If we were to string many carbohydrate monomers together we
could make a polysaccharide like starch. The prefixes “mono-” (one), “di-” (two), and “poly-” (many)
will tell you how many of the monomers have been joined together in a molecule.

Biological Building Blocks

The cell is the basic unit of life. All organisms are composed of one or more cells. As will be discussed
later, humans are made up of many millions of cells. In order to understand what goes wrong in cancer, it is
important to understand how normal cells work. The first step is to discuss the structure and basic functions
of cells.
First we will introduce the common building blocks of cells. All cells, regardless of their function or
location in the body, share common features and processes. Amazingly, cells are comprised almost entirely
of just four basic types of molecules. Since they are present in living things these building blocks are called
biomolecules. The next sections describe the structures and functions of each of these basic building blocks.

● Carbohydrates
● Proteins
● Lipids
● Nucleic Acids
Carbohydrates

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The first class of biomolecules we will discuss are the carbohydrates. These molecules are
comprised of the elements carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O). Commonly, these molecules are
known as sugars. Carbohydrates can range in size from very small to very large. Like all the other
biomolecules, carbohydrates are often built into long chains by stringing together smaller units. This works
like adding beads to a bracelet to make it longer. The general term for a single unit or bead is a monomer.
The term for a long string of monomers is a polymer.

Examples of carbohydrates include the sugars found in milk (lactose) and table sugar (sucrose).
Depicted below is the structure of the monomer sugar glucose, a major source of energy for our body.
Carbohydrates have several functions in cells. They are an excellent source of energy for the many
different activities going on in our cells. Some carbohydrates may have a structural function. For example,
the material that makes plants stand tall and gives wood its tough properties is a polymer form of glucose
known as cellulose. Other types of sugar polymers make up the stored forms of energy known
as starch and glycogen. Starch is found in plant products such as potatoes and glycogen is found in animals.
Carbohydrates are essential for cells to communicate with each other. They also help cells adhere
to each other and the material surrounding the cells in the body. The ability of the body to defend itself against
invading microbes and the removal of foreign material from the body (such as the capture of dust and pollen
by the mucus in our nose and throat) is also dependent on the properties of carbohydrates.
Proteins
Like the carbohydrates, proteins are composed of smaller units. The monomers that make up
proteins are called amino acids. There are around twenty different amino acids. The structure of the
simplest amino acid, glycine, is shown below.
Proteins have numerous functions within living things, including the following:

● They help form many of the structural features of the body including hair, nails and muscles. Proteins
are a major structural component of cells and cell membranes.
● They aid in transporting materials across cellular membranes. An example would be the uptake of
glucose into cells from the bloodstream.
● They act as biological catalysts. A large group of proteins, known as enzymes, are able to speed up
chemical reactions that are necessary for cells to work properly. For example, there are numerous
enzymes that are involved in breaking down the food we eat and making the nutrients available.
● Interactions between cells are very important in maintaining the organization and function of cells
and organs. Proteins are often responsible for maintaining contact between adjacent cells and
between cells and their local environment. A good example would be the cell: cell interactions that
keep the cells in our skin held closely together. These interactions are dependent on proteins from
neighboring cells binding tightly to each other.
● Proteins work to control the activity of cells, including decisions regarding cell division.
● Many hormones, signals that travel through the body to change the behavior of cells and organs, are
composed of protein. Insulin, a small protein hormone that regulates the uptake of glucose from the
bloodstream.

Lipids
The term lipid refers to a wide variety of biomolecules including fats, oils, waxes and steroid hormones.
Regardless of their structure, location or function in a cell/body, all lipids share common features that enable
them to be grouped together.

● They do not dissolve in water; they are hydrophobic.

● Like the carbohydrates, they are composed primarily of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

The hydrophobic nature of the lipids dictates many of their uses in biological systems. Fats are a good
source of stored energy while oils and waxes are used to form protective layers on our skin, preventing
infection. Some lipids, the steroid hormones, are important regulators of cell activity. We will revisit this during
our discussion of the information flow in cells. The activities of steroid hormones such as estrogen have been
implicated in cancers of the female reproductive system. Treatments based on this knowledge will be
discussed in detail in the treatment section of the site.
 Depicted above is an example of a triacylglycerol, or fat. The three long chains are composed only of
carbon and hydrogen and this gives the molecule its hydrophobic properties. When you read about saturated
and unsaturated fat content on a food label, they are referring to differences in these long hydrocarbon chains.
A main function of lipids is the formation of biological membranes. Cells are surrounded by a thin layer
of lipids. The layer is made up of a special type of lipid that has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties.
The hydrophilic ends of these molecules face the water-filled environment inside the cells and the watery
environment outside the cells. A hydrophobic region exists inside the two layers. The membrane that
surrounds the cells is rich in proteins and other lipids such as cholesterol.

Most chemicals cannot cross the lipid bilayer. Water and some other small molecules can freely pass
through the membrane while other molecules must be actively transported via protein channels embedded
in the membrane. Membranes also contain a combination of the biomolecules that have been described so
far. As seen above, proteins may be coupled to carbohydrates to form glycoproteins. Glycoproteins are
important in the cell: cell interactions discussed previously, and changes in the amounts or types of these
proteins are seen in cancer. Similarly, a combination of lipids and carbohydrates lead to the formation of
glycolipids.
Nucleic Acids

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All of the information needed to control and build cells is stored in these molecules.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

DNA is composed of two long strings (polymers) of nucleotides twisted around each other to form
the spiral or helical structure shown below. The twisted molecules are arranged in a particular manner, with
specific nucleotides always found across from each other. The nucleotide containing adenine (A) always
pairs with the nucleotide containing thymine (T). Likewise, guanine (G) always pairs with cytosine (C). If you
look closely at the graphics above you can see the nucleotide pairs interacting in the middle of the helix. The
polymers that form DNA can be extremely long, reaching millions of nucleotides per each individual DNA
molecule. The following graphic depicts a short strand of double-stranded DNA.
DNA is located in the nucleus of cells. All of the nucleated cells in the human body have the same
DNA content regardless of their function. The difference is which parts of the DNA are being used in any
given cell. For example, the cells that make up the liver contain the same DNA as the cells that make up
muscles. The dramatically different activities of these two cell types is dependent on the portions of DNA that
are active in the cells. DNA is the storage form of genetic information and acts as a blueprint for cells. As we
shall see, changes in the sequence of DNA can lead to alterations in cell behavior. Unregulated growth, as
well as many of the other changes seen in cancer, are ultimately the result of mutations, changes in the
structure of DNA.
Ribonucleic Acid
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is similar in many ways to DNA. It is a polymer of nucleotides that carries the
information present in genes. In addition to some chemical differences between RNA and DNA, there are
important functional differences.

● RNA is copied from DNA in the nucleus and much of it is shipped out to the cytosol.
● RNA is the working form of the information stored in DNA.
● RNA is single stranded, not double-stranded

There are two main types of nucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).
Both of these molecules are polymers. They are composed of monomer subunits like the carbohydrates and
proteins described previously. The monomers used to build nucleic acids are called nucleotides. The
nucleotides are often referred to by the single letter abbreviations A, C, G, T and U. Like all of the monomers
described so far, the monomers used to build DNA are similar to each other but are not exactly alike. One of
the differences between DNA and RNA is the subset of nucleotides used to build the polymers. DNA contains
A, C, G and T while RNA contains A, C, G and U.