BME chapter 2 - Biomolecular Principles

biological molecules used in biomedical engineering

proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids

liposomes

lipid molecules assembled to aid in anticancer drugs.

Ions

molecules with a net charge

Ionic bonds

electrons being transferred from one atom to another

cation

positively charged ion

anion

negatively charged ion

covalent bonds

sharing of electrons

what are the charges of a H2O molecule?

oxygen is slightly negative, hydrogen is slightly positive

gene delivery

act of transferring foreign DNA into a cell

hydrogen bonds

when a partially positive hydrogen atom in a polar bond is attracted to a slightly negative atom (O, N, F) in a neighboring molecule, holds large molecules together

what holds together macromolecules?

all atoms are held together by covalent or ionic bonds

molecular complex

collections of molecules held together often by weak bonds (ie. hydrogen bonds) held together in a single unit

enzymes

type of molecular complex that speeds up chemical conversions

van der Waals interactions

weak noncovalent attraction, usually results from temporary and unequal electron distributions around atoms

aqueous

water-rich

hydrophobic effect

when hydrophobic molecules aggregate together to exclude water as best as they can, driving force in protein folding

amphiphilic

molecules that contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups (ie. phospholipids used to make liposomes)

acidosis

excess of acid in the body fluids, as may occur in kidney disease or diabetes

adenosine 5’ triphosphate (ATP)

nucleotide that is the most important molecule for capturing and transferring free energy in cells, hydrolysis of each of the two high-energy phosphoanydride bonds in ATP is accompanied by a large energy change

aquaporin

a water channel protein that allows water molecules to cross the cell membrane much more rapidly than through the phospholipid bilayer

base

a compound usually containing nitrogen that can accept a proton

chemical equilibrium

the state of a reaction when the forward and reverse reaction are occurring at the same time

complementary sequence

a sequence the nucleotide bases of which match or hybridize (mirror image) with original sequence

condensation

opposite of hydrolysis

deoxyribose

5 carbon sugar of DNA

endothermic

referring to a chemical concentration that absorbs heat

enthalpy

a thermodynamic property of chemicals that indicates the amount of internal energy

facilitated diffusion

protein-aided transport of molecules across a membrane down its concentration gradient

first-order reaction

a reaction where all of the reaction rates are equal to the rate constant x concentration

flux

rate of transfer fluid, particles, or energy across a given surface

formation reaction

a chemical reaction that describes the formation of a compound from the most stable form of its components

fructose

hexose sugar especially found in fruits

galactose

hexose sugar that is a constituent of lactose and other polysaccharides

genetic information

hereditary info that is carried by nucleic acids

glucose

G6 H12 O6

glycolipid

two hydrocarbon chains linked to a polar head group containing carbs

glycoprotein

protein linked to oligosaccharides

hybridization

the process of two single strands of DNA assembling into double-stranded DNA

messenger RNA (mRNA)

a form of RNA in which genetic information transcribed from RNA is transferred to the ribosome

neutral

pH 7

passive diffusion

water and small uncharged molecules (O2 and CO2) passing through the plasma membrane

pentose

five-carbon sugar

peptide

small polymer containing less than 30 amino acids

polymerization

making polymers from a collection of monomers

ribose

five-carbon sugar part of RNA

transcription

process where genetic info contained represented as DNA nucleotides is copied into newly synthesized strands of RNA

translation

process where a sequence of nucleotide triplets in mRNA gives rise to a specific sequence of amino acids during protein synthesis