Biochemistry Fundamentals

• CHM 104 is a biochemistry course.

Course Description

• The course covers the chemistry of living organisms and the structure-function relationship of biomolecules.
• The course also examines chemical interactions and the metabolic roles of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and other key biomolecules.

Course Objectives

• Identify cell parts and their functions.
• List the biomolecules in the human body along with their importance and functions.
• Identify biomolecules by their monomers.
• Develop an appreciation for the importance of biomolecules to life.
• Draw basic biomolecule structures.

Lecture Notes: Chemistry of Cells

• This lecture introduces biomolecules produced by cells and discusses the four major types: carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins.
• The size, structure, functions of proteins, their building blocks, and the biological roles of enzymes will be covered.
• Objectives include identifying universal biomolecules in living systems, understanding how chemical structure relates to biological function, describing biological activity, and its relationship to molecular structure.
• Topics will include: Introduction to Biochemistry, The Cell, Amino Acids, Polypeptides, and Enzymes.

Topic 1: Introduction to Biochemistry Objectives

• Understand the science of biochemistry.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the chemical basis of life.
• Learn about the biochemical machinery of living cells.

The Science of Biochemistry

• Biochemistry aims to explain life processes in molecular detail.
• Biochemistry relies on organic chemistry and other basic sciences.
• Biochemistry studies the structures and functions of cellular components like proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules.
• Many biomolecules are complex polymers made of repeating subunits called monomers.

History of Biochemistry

• Early belief: life was not subject to scientific laws like non-life, and only living organisms could produce molecules of life.
• Friedrich Wöhler in 1828 disproved that organic compounds could only be created by living organisms by artificially synthesizing urea.
• The first enzyme, diastase (now amylase), was discovered in 1833 by Anselme Payen, marking the dawn of biochemistry.
• Eduard Buchner demonstrated biochemical processes outside cells in 1896 with alcoholic fermentation in yeast extracts.
• While "biochemistry" was used in 1882, Carl Neuberg formally coined the term in 1903.
• Another significant historic event in biochemistry is the discovery of the gene and its role in cell information transfer.
• Today, there are three main types of biochemistry: plant, general, and human/medical/medicinal.

Chemical Basis of Life

• Oxygen comprises 61% of the elements in the human body, followed by carbon at 23%, hydrogen at 10%, and nitrogen at 3%.
• Biomolecules like proteins are based on carbon compounds.
• Carbon is the third most abundant element in living organisms.
• Carbon is essential since biochemical compounds are based on it and life couldn't exist withoutit.
• Organic chemistry explains the properties of biomolecules.

Carbon Importance

• Cells consist of macromolecules: proteins, nucleic acids (RNA and DNA), carbohydrates, and lipids.
• Carbon is fundamental to all macromolecules and is the ideal element for serving as the macromolecules' structural component, or backbone, due to its unique properties of forming covalent bonds with up to four different atoms.

Chemical Bonding

• Ionic compounds contain positively and negatively charged ions, resulting in a neutral charge.
• Covalent compounds consist of molecules where atoms share electrons to form bonds.
• Organic compounds mainly contain carbon and hydrogen, while inorganic compounds do not.
• A structural formula indicates a molecule's composition and shape.
• Single, double, and triple bonds are covalent bonds with one, two, and three shared electron pairs, respectively

Functional Groups

• The chemical reactions are determined by the functional groups of biomolecules.
• The carbon atom directly attached to a functional group is called the alpha carbon, the second is beta, and so on.
• Functional groups are classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary depending on the number of carbon atoms attached.

Biomolecules as Polymers

• The principle biomolecules in cells are polymer chains: amino acids (proteins), monosaccharides (polysaccharides), and nucleotides (nucleic acids).
• Biopolymers form via condensation reactions where water is removed.
• Each monomer unit in a biopolymer is called a residue.

Proteins

• Proteins make up much of the cell's chemical reactions.
• Proteins are the major structural components of most cells and tissues.
• Proteins, also known as polypeptides, consist of amino acids linked by peptide bonds.
• Peptide bonds are amide bonds from the condensation of carboxyl and amino groups of amino acids.

Polysaccharides

• Polysaccharides are polymers of simple sugars called monosaccharides, such as glucose.
• Polysaccharides provide structural (cellulose) or energy storage (glycogen, starch) functions.
• Polysaccharides and monosaccharides were among the first examined biomolecules.

Lipids and Membranes

• Lipids are complex biomolecules consisting of hydrogen and carbon, i.e., hydrocarbons.
• Fatty acids are the principal building block of many lipids.
• Glycerophospholipids, the cell membrane's structural lipid, contains 2 fatty acids, glycerol, and a polar head group.
• Each glycerophospholipid contains a polar region (glycerol, carbonyl of fatty acids, P₁, and the polar head group (X)) and non-polar hydrocarbon tails of fatty acids (R₁, R₂).

Nucleic Acids

• Nucleic acids are constituted by monomer units of nucleotides.
• Nucleotides contain a monosaccharide, a nitrogen base, and phosphates.
• Nucleotides are linked by phosphodiester bonds, where phosphate binds two sugar units.
• Nucleotides play a key role in genetic information transmission (DNA), and RNA can perform structural and enzymatic functions.

Energetics of Life

• In animals, energy is derived from the breakdown of fuel molecules by catabolism, then used in biosynthesis (anabolism).
• Energy flow in biological systems is bioenergetics.
• Energy for biosynthesis in humans and animals is derived from organic dietary molecules.

Explore the basics of biochemistry, including biomolecules like carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. Understand how these molecules interact to support cell function. Learn about the role of amino acids as building blocks and the function of enzymes as biological catalysts.