CHAPTER 4:

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE CELL

ELEMENT IN THE CELL

1. There are about 92 element occurring naturally in nature. 2. From these 92 element, only about 25 element are needed to build living organisms. 3. Not all these element found in all living cell. 4. Main element (CHON) are the most frequently found elements in cells, forming about 96% of the human body mass. 5. Trace-elements are the elements are found in small quantity in cells, but

CHEMICAL COMPOUND IN THE CELL 1. Chemical compounds in the cell can be divided into two major group: Organic Inorganic 2. Organic compounds are: Chemical compounds contain carbon (exception are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbides and carbonates which are typically considered as inorganic) Are usually found in and originate from living organism. Usually consist of macromolecules (large molecules). 3. Inorganic compounds are: Chemical compounds that do not contain carbon Usually a smaller and simpler than organic compounds Founds in cells water, acids, alkalis and mineral salts

 I. II. III. IV.

There are 4 main group of organic compounds in cells: Carbohydrates Lipids Proteins Nucleic acids

I.

II.

III.

Carbohydrates The carbohydrates are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The ratio of hydrogen to oxygen atoms in a molecule usually 2:1. Many carbohydrates have the general formula CX(H2O)Y,where x is approximately equal to y. Three basic types of carbohydrates are

 Monosaccharide i. Monosaccharide also called simple sugar ii. The common monosaccharide are sixcarbon sugar with a molecular formula of C6H12O6 iii. Example of monosaccharide are glucose, fructose (fruit sugar) and galactose iv. Glucose is the most common monosaccharide and respiratory substrate v. Monosaccharide are sweet-tasting crystalline substances which are soluble in water

 Disaccharides
i. Disaccharides are formed from two monosaccharide molecules combining together with the elements of a molecule of water. The chemical reaction of the formation is known as condensation. ii. The general formula of a disaccharides is C12H22O11 iii. Disaccharides also called double sugar. iv. Disaccharides can be broken down to their constituent monosaccharide by a chemical reaction involving the addition of water. The reaction is know as hydrolysis.

v.

Like monosaccharide, they are sweet-tasting crystalline substances that are soluble in water.

Condensation

+
Hydrolysis C6H12O6 glucose C6H12O6 fructose C12H22O11 sucrose

+ H2 O water

vi. The most common disaccharides are maltose, lactose and sucrose.

Condensation

+
Hydrolysis

+ H2 O

C6H12O6
glucose

C6H12O6
glucose

C12H22O11 maltose

water

Condensation

+
Hydrolysis C6H12O6 C6H12O6 C12H22O11

+ H2 O water

glucose

fructose

sucrose

Condensation

+
Hydrolysis
C6H12O6 glucose C6H12O6 galactose C12H22O11 lactose

+ H2 O water

 Polysaccharides i. Many monosaccharide molecules join together in a condensation reaction (with the removal of water molecules) to form a large polysaccharides molecules. ii. Polymerisation is the process of condensing many individual monosaccharide molecules to form a large polysaccharides molecules. iii. In polymerisation, the individual monosaccharide molecule are called monomers. iv. Polymerisation of monosaccharide forms: Glycogen in humans and animals Starch and cellulose in plants

glucose

Starch structure Sub unit: Glucose Consists of two components. a) Unbranched, helical chains of glucose units b) Branched chains of glucose units Major storage of carbohydrate in plants

glucose

glycogen
Sub unit: Glucose Molecules with many side branches Major storage of carbohydrates in animals and fungi, for examples, in muscle cells and liver cells

glucose

cellulose
Straight unbranched chain of glucose units Plant cell wall

Reducing and non-reducing sugar

a) Some sugars act as mild reducing agents b) Two common test reagent to test for reducing sugar are: i. Benedicts reagent (alkaline solution of CuSO4) ii. Fehlings reagent (alkaline solution of CuSO4) c) Reducing sugars reduce Cu+ (blue solution) to Cu+ (brick red precipitate) in both reagents.

 Proteins 1. Proteins are compounds of these element: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen sulphur and phosphorus. 2. Amino acids are the subunits of all proteins. 3. Each amino acids carries two functional group: a) A carboxyl group (- COOH) which is acidic and b) An amino group (-NH2) which is basic. COOH C NH2
carboxyl group

amino group

 Two amino acids can combine together to form a dipeptide by a condensation reaction between the carboxyl group of one and the amino group of the other. The resulting a bond liking the two amino acids that is called a peptide bond.
H2O

h
condensation

O c n c nh2 hooc

Peptide bond

cooh C NH2

Hn C hooc

 Long chains of amino acids are called polypeptides. A polypeptide is formed by the condensation reaction of many amino acids, with the removel of water. A polypeptide chain can also be hydrolysed, with the addition of water molecules to form individual amino acids. PROTEIN STRUCTURE Primary-linear sequence of amino acids Secondary structure- forming ahelixor pleated sheet. Tertiary structure- compact structure Quaternary structure- 2 or more tertiary structure

a) b) c) d) e)

LIPIDS Lipids a diverse group of substance that contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The proportion of oxygen is lower than that in carbohydrates. For example, the general formula of stearic acid is C18H36O2. All lipids are insoluble in water Lipids dissolve readily in other lipids and in organic solvent such as ether and ethanol. The main types of lipids are: Fats Oils Waxes Phospholipids steroids

Fats and oils Fats are solid at room temperature (20C), whereas oil are liquid Each molecule of fats or oils is made up of one glycerol combine with three fatty acids which may be the same or may be different. Three molecule of water are remove in this condensation reaction.
Condensation (- H2O)

+
Hydrolysis (+ H2O) glycerol 3 fatty acids molecules Triglyceride + 3 water molecules

 These molecules of fats and oils are known as triglycerides. Fats often contain only saturated fatty acids. Oils usually contain unsaturated fatty acids. In a saturated fatty acids, the carbon atoms are bonded to the maximum number of other atoms. Saturated fatty acid has only single bond and the hydrocarbon chain is relatively straight. Unsaturated fatty acids has double bond in the form of CH=CH- in the hydrocarbon chain. Fatty acids; those with two or more double bond are called polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Type of fatty acids

Saturated
Unsaturated

Example
Stearic acid
Oleic acid

Structural formula
CH3(CH2)16COOH
CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH

Fats and oils function efficiently as energy storage material. Fats and oils provide 38kJ per gram, while carbohydrates can provide only 17 kJ per gram.

Waxes Waxes are similar to triglycerides, but the fatty acids are bonded to long-chain alcohols rather than glycerol Waxes are usually hard solids at room temperature Waxes are used to waterproof the external surface of plants and animal. The cuticle of a leaf and the protective covering on an insects body are made of waxes. Wax is also a constituent of the honeycomb of bees

Phospholipids Phospholipids have a similar structure to triglycerides but one of the fatty acids is replaced by a phosphate group The end of the phospholipids molecule containing the phosphate group is hydrophilic. The other end containing the hydrocarbon chain of the fatty acids is hydrophobic. The hydrophilic end is soluble in water while hydrophobic is insoluble in water. Phospholipids bilayer from the basis of all cell membrane.

Steroids A steroid molecule has a complex ring structure Steroid occur in plants and animals Examples of steroids are cholesterol, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
Steroid cholesterol Function Strengthens the cell membrane at high body temperature Male reproductive hormone female reproductive hormone

testosterone
estrogen and progesterone.

 Saturated and and saturated fats Animal fats such as lard, butter and cream are example of saturated fats Vegetable oil such as olive oil and sunflower oil are example of unsaturated fats.

Saturated fats

Unsaturated fats Similarities

1. Both are triglycerides 2. They yield 38 kJ per gram 3. Their molecules congregate into globule because of their hydrophobic properties Saturated fats Higher melting point Most are solid at room temperature More likely to cause disease of the heart and arteries More stable at room temperature and less readily become rancid Differences Unsaturated fats Lower melting point Most are liquid at room temperature Less likely to cause disease of the heart and arteries Unstable at room temperature and less readily become rancid

ENZYMES
Enzymes are protein molecules act as biological catalysts. They speed up the rate of metabolic reactions and do not chemically changed at the end of the reaction The substance whose reactivity is increased by an enzymes is knowing as a substrate

THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ENZYMES

Enzymes speed up the rates of biochemical reactions in cells. Only a small amount of enzymes is needed to catalyse a lot of substrate. Enzymes are very specific each class of enzymes will catalyse only one particular reaction. Enzymes are not used up or destroyed in the reactions that they catalyse, but can be reused again. Enzymes catalyse reversible reactions Many enzymes are only able to work with in presence of a coenzymes (or cofactor). Enzymes are effected by changes in temperature and pH

NAMING OF ENZYMES
An emzyme is named by taking its substrate name and adding the suffix -ase Example, protease catalyses the hydrolysis of protein. The -ase rule does not apply to enzymes discover before the -ase idea was introduced. For example, pepsin, rennin, ptyalin and tripsin. The modern classification of enzymes was decided by the International Union of Biochemistry (IUB) in 1961

INTRACELLULAR AND EXTRACELLULAR ENZYMES

Intracellular emzyme that catalyses reaction within a cell and formed by the free ribosome in the cytoplasm. Extracellular emzyme that leaves the cell and catalyses reaction outside the cell and synthesised by ribosome attached to the rough endoplasmic recticulum.

MECHANISM OF ENZYMES ACTION

Each enzyme molecule has a region with very precise shape called active site. The substrate molecule fit into the active site of the enzymes like a key into a lock, forming an enzymesubstrate complex, a temporary structure. Reaction take place at active site to form a product. The product have a different shape from the substrate and therefore repelled from a active site.

 1. 2. 3. 4.

THERE ARE 4 FACTORS AFFECT THE ACTIVITY OF ENZYMES pH Temperature Concentration of enzyme Concentration of substrate

The effect of pH on enzyme activity

Each enzyme has a optimum pH at which its rate of reaction is the fastest. i.e. pepsin at pH 2,(acidic) amylase pH 7 (neutral) and trypsin at pH 8-9 (alkaline)

The effect of temperature on enzyme activity

The rate of reaction will increase up to maximum, known as optimum temperature. After the optimum temperature around 37C40C, the rate of reaction falls quickly because of the bonds maintaining the structure of the enzyme start to break and the active site loses its shape. At 60C, enzyme activity will stop altogether because the enzyme is denatured

The effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity

1. Increase the substrate concentration will increase the chance of enzyme-substrate collision, and the rate of reaction will increase. 2. Addition of substrate will not increase the rate of reaction anymore because the constant enzyme concentration becomes the limiting factor.

The effect of enzym concentration on enzyme activity

1. When the concentration of enzyme increase, there are more chance enzyme-substrate collision. The rate of reaction increase linearly as long as no other factors are limiting.
1. Enzyme can extracted from any living organism, and used either at home or in industry 2. Enzymes that are commonly used in daily life are: a. Papain-found in papaya used to tenderise meat b. Protease-used to tenderise meat and remove hair from the skin etc.
THE USES OF ENZYMES

Health problems
Leads to

What
Definition

Deficiency

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE CELL Element Compound

Consists of

Water

How
Mechanism

Enzymes
Forms Can be classified Includes

Carbohydrate

Lipid

Protein

Importance Affected by

Why

Break down into

Form

Simpler molecules

Factors