Carbohydrates Flashcards
(77 cards)
Carbohydrate and oxidisation
Highly oxidizable: sugar –> starch molecules have “high energy” H atom-associated electrons
This makes them a major energy source with carb catabolism being a major metabolic process for most organisms
What are carbs functions
- To store potential energy:
-starch (plants)
-Glycogen (animals) - Structural/protective sunction in ECM
- Contribut to cell-cell communication (ABO blood groups)
3 monosaccharides
hexoses 6-C sugars: Glucose, Galactose, Fructose
What are disaccharides
Formed from monomers linked by glycosidic bonds - covalent bond formed when OH group of one monosac reacts with anomeric carbon of other monosac
What is an anomeric carbon
- Diff anomers = mirror images of each other (L/R)
- C1 on glucose residue
- stabilises structure of glucose
- only residue that can be oxidised
3 disaccharides
- Maltose
- Lactose
- Sucrose
Briefly explain maltose
- Mostly break-down product of starch (not much from diet)
- Anomeric C-1 is availabe for oxidation so maltose can be oxidised (termed a reducing sugar)
Briefly explain lactose
- Main sugar in milk
- Formed fromglycosidic bond between galactose and glucose
- Anomeric C on the glucose available for oxidation (so it is termed reducing sugar)
briefly explain sucrose
- “table” sugar
- Does not have a free anomeric C-1 so there is no oxidation site, hence it is a non-reducing sugar
What are polysaccharides
Polymers of med-high molecular weight, and can be distinguished from each other in the:
* identity of recurring monosaccharide units
* length of their chains
* types of bonds linking monosaccharide units
* amount of branching they exhibit
What can polysaccharides be?
- Homopolysaccharides - single monomeric species
- Heteropolysaccharides - two or more monomer species
what is starch
2 typers of glucose polymer:
1. Amylose - D-glucose seridues in (a1->4) linkage and can hae thousands of glucose residues
2. Amylopectin - similar but branched. Glycosidic (a1->4) bonds join glucose in the chains but branches are (a1->6) and occur every 24 - 30 residues
what does starch have many of
Non-reducing ends (and few reducing ends)
Glycogen
Polymer of glucose (a1->4) linked sub-units with (a1-6) branches every 8 to 12 residues - makes it more extensively branched than starch - more dense and can pack more in
Where is glycogen found
90% in liver (replenishes blood glucose when fasting) and skeletal muscles (catabolism produces ATP for contraction)
Why do we store glucose as a polymer (glycogen)
- Compactness
- Amylopectin and glycogen have many non-reducing ends mening they can be readily synthesised and degraded to and from monomers
- Polymers form hydrated gels and not “in solution”, making them osmotically inactive so doesn’t move out of cells etc
Glycoproteins
P with carbs covalently attached - most extracellular eukaryotic P have associated carboihydrate molecules
Glycoprotiens - what do carbs attached to proteins do
- Inc P solubility
- Inc P folding and conformation
- Protect it from degredation
- Act as communication between cells
Glycosamionglycans (GAG)
Un-branced polymers made from repeating units of hexuronicacid and an amino-sugar, which alternate through the chains
Function of GAG’s
in mucus and also synovial fluid around joints
Proteoglycans
GAGs covalently attching to Proteins. Are macromolecules found on the surface of cells/in ECM and part of many CT in body
What are proteoglycans similar to
Glycoproteins
Where are glycoproteins usually found
Outer plasma membrane and ECM - also in blood and within cells in secretory system
What does the disordered nature of glycoproteins mean they do?
stick