CHAPTER5

THESTRUCTUREANDFUNCTION
OFMACROMOLECULES
SectionC:LipidsDiverseHydrophobicMolecules
1. Fatsstorelargeamountsofenergy
2. Phospholipidsaremajorcomponentsofcellmembranes
3. Steroidsincludecholesterolandcertainhormones

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Introduction
Lipidsareanexceptionamongmacromolecules
becausetheydonothavepolymers.
Theunifyingfeatureoflipidsisthattheyallhave
littleornoaffinityforwater.
Thisisbecausetheirstructuresaredominatedby
nonpolarcovalentbonds.

Lipidsarehighlydiverseinformandfunction.

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1.Fatsstorelargeamountsofenergy
Althoughfatsarenotstrictlypolymers,theyarelarge
moleculesassembledfromsmallermoleculesby
dehydrationreactions.
Afatisconstructedfromtwokindsofsmaller
molecules,glycerolandfattyacids.

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Glycerolconsistsofathreecarbonskeletonwith
ahydroxylgroupattachedtoeach.
Afattyacidconsistsofacarboxylgroup
attachedtoalongcarbonskeleton,often16to18
carbonslong.

Fig.5.10a
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 ThemanynonpolarCHbondsinthelong
hydrocarbonskeletonmakefatshydrophobic.
Inafat,threefattyacidsarejoinedtoglycerolby
anesterlinkage,creatingatriacylglycerol.

Fig.5.10b
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 Thethreefattyacidsinafatcanbethesameor
different.
Fattyacidsmayvaryinlength(numberofcarbons)
andinthenumberandlocationsofdoublebonds.
Ifthereareno
carboncarbon
doublebonds,
thenthemolecule
isasaturatedfatty
acidahydrogen
ateverypossible
position.
Fig.5.11a
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 Ifthereareoneormorecarboncarbondoublebonds,then
themoleculeisanunsaturatedfattyacidformedby
theremovalofhydrogenatomsfromthecarbonskeleton.
Saturatedfattyacids
arestraightchains,
butunsaturatedfatty
acidshaveakink
whereverthereis
adoublebond.

Fig.5.11b
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 Fatswithsaturatedfattyacidsaresaturatedfats.
Mostanimalfatsaresaturated.
Saturatedfataresolidatroomtemperature.
Adietrichinsaturatedfatsmaycontributeto
cardiovasculardisease(atherosclerosis)throughplaque
deposits.

Fatswithunsaturatedfattyacidsareunsaturated
fats.
Plantandfishfats,knownasoils,areliquidareroom
temperature.
Thekinksprovidedbythedoublebondspreventthe
moleculesfrompackingtightlytogether.
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 Themajorfunctionoffatsisenergystorage.
Agramoffatstoresmorethantwiceasmuchenergyasa
gramofapolysaccharide.
Plantsusestarchforenergystoragewhenmobilityisnot
aconcernbutuseoilswhendispersalandpackingis
important,asinseeds.
Humansandothermammalsstorefatsaslongterm
energyreservesinadiposecells.

Fatalsofunctionstocushionvitalorgans.
Alayeroffatscanalsofunctionasinsulation.
Thissubcutaneouslayerisespeciallythickinwhales,
seals,andmostothermarinemammals.
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2.Phospholipidsaremajorcomponentsof
cellmembranes
Phospholipidshavetwofattyacidsattachedto
glycerolandaphosphategroupatthethirdposition.
Thephosphategroupcarriesanegativecharge.
Additionalsmallergroupsmaybeattachedtothephosphate
group.

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 Theinteractionofphospholipidswithwateris
complex.
Thefattyacidtailsarehydrophobic,butthephosphate
groupanditsattachmentsformahydrophilichead.

Fig.5.12
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 Whenphospholipidsareaddedtowater,theyself
assembleintoaggregateswiththehydrophobictails
pointingtowardthecenterandthehydrophilic
headsontheoutside.
Thistypeofstructureiscalledamicelle.

Fig.5.13a
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 Atthesurfaceofacellphospholipidsarearrangedas
abilayer.
Again,thehydrophilicheadsareontheoutsideincontact
withtheaqueoussolutionandthehydrophobictailsfrom
thecore.
Thephospholipidbilayerformsabarrierbetweenthecell
andtheexternalenvironment.

Theyarethemajorcomponentofmembranes.

Fig.5.12b
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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.

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