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The fatty acid structure is one of the most fundamental categories of biological lipids and is commonly used as a building-block of more structurally complex lipids. The carbon chain, typically between four and 24 carbons long, [ 23 ] may be saturated or unsaturated , and may be attached to functional groups containing oxygen , halogens ...
Starch (a polymer of glucose) is used as a storage polysaccharide in plants, being found in the form of both amylose and the branched amylopectin. In animals, the structurally similar glucose polymer is the more densely branched glycogen, sometimes called "animal starch". Glycogen's properties allow it to be metabolized more quickly, which ...
The most common macromolecules in biochemistry are biopolymers (nucleic acids, proteins, and carbohydrates) and large non-polymeric molecules such as lipids, nanogels and macrocycles. [1] Synthetic fibers and experimental materials such as carbon nanotubes [2] [3] are also examples of macromolecules.
The 4 main classes of molecules in biochemistry (often called biomolecules) are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. [35] Many biological molecules are polymers: in this terminology, monomers are relatively small macromolecules that are linked together to create large macromolecules known as polymers.
Modified amino acids are sometimes observed in proteins; this is usually the result of enzymatic modification after translation (protein synthesis). For example, phosphorylation of serine by kinases and dephosphorylation by phosphatases is an important control mechanism in the cell cycle. Only two amino acids other than the standard twenty are ...
Polysaccharides are linear or branched chains of sugar carbohydrates; examples include starch, cellulose, and alginate. Other examples of biopolymers include natural rubbers (polymers of isoprene), suberin and lignin (complex polyphenolic polymers), cutin and cutan (complex polymers of long-chain fatty acids), melanin, and polyhydroxyalkanoates ...
Many prokaryotes also have a cell wall, but the cell wall is composed of proteins or long chain carbohydrates, not lipids. In contrast, eukaryotes have a range of organelles including the nucleus, mitochondria, lysosomes and endoplasmic reticulum. All of these sub-cellular compartments are surrounded by one or more lipid bilayers and, together ...
An example of how glycolipids function within the body is the interaction between leukocytes and endothelial cells during inflammation. Selectins, a class of lectins found on the surface of leukocytes and endothelial cells bind to the carbohydrates attached to glycolipids to initiate the immune response. This binding causes leukocytes to leave ...