(What) acids are large molecules that cells need to carry out functions of life?

Question

I need help on my homework T_T

Answer 1

Amino acids

Amino acids are the basic structural building units of proteins. They form short polymer chains called peptides or polypeptides which in turn form structures called proteins. The process of such formation from an mRNA template is known as translation, which is part of protein synthesis.

Twenty amino acids are encoded by the standard genetic code and are called proteinogenic or standard amino acids.

In chemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that contains both amine and carboxyl functional groups. In biochemistry, this shorter and more general term is frequently used to refer to alpha amino acids: those amino acids in which the amino and carboxylate functionalities are attached to the same carbon, the so-called α–carbon. These amino acids are used as the basic components of proteins.

An amino acid residue is what is left of an amino acid once a molecule of water has been lost (an H+ from the nitrogenous side and an OH- from the carboxylic side) in the formation of a peptide bond, the chemical bond that links the amino acid monomers in a protein chain.

Each protein has its own unique amino acid sequence that is known as its primary structure. Just as the letters of the alphabet can be combined in different ways to form an almost endless variety of words, amino acids can be linked together in varying sequences to form a huge variety of proteins. The unique shape of each protein determines its function in the body.

The twenty "standard" amino acids used by cells in protein biosynthesis have molecules are of a standard format, with the alpha Carbon atom bonding to a H atom, a -COO negative ion, a -NH3 positive ion (the ions form the links in the polymer chain) and varying only in their side-chain which is specific to that particular amino acid, Glycine is the simplest amino acid with only a hydrogen atom as its side chain.

List of the 20 standard Amino Acids with their abbreviations and side chains;

Amino Acid Abbrev. Side chain
Alanine A Ala -CH3
Cysteine C Cys -CH2SH
Aspartate D Asp -CH2COOH
Glutamate E Glu -CH2CH2COOH
Phenylalanine F Phe -CH2C6H5
Glycine G Gly -H
Histidine H His -CH2-C3H3N2
Isoleucine I Ile -CH(CH3)CH2CH3
Lysine K Lys -(CH2)4NH2
Leucine L Leu -CH2CH(CH3)2
Methionine M Met -CH2CH2SCH3
Asparagine N Asn -CH2CONH2
Proline P Pro -CH2CH2CH2
Glutamine Q Gln -CH2CH2CONH2
Arginine R Arg -(CH2)3NH-C(NH)NH2
Serine S Ser -CH2OH
Threonine T Thr -CH(OH)CH3
Selenocysteine U Sec -CH2SeH
Valine V Val -CH(CH3)2
Tryptophan W Trp -CH2C8H6N
Tyrosine Y Tyr -CH2-C6H4OH

Nutritional importance

Some of the 20 standard proteinogenic amino acids are called essential amino acids because the human body cannot synthesize them from other compounds through chemical reactions, and they therefore must be obtained from food.

Histidine and arginine are generally only considered essential in children, because the metabolic pathways that synthesize these amino acids are not fully developed in children.

Essential Non-essential
Isoleucine Alanine
Leucine Asparagine
Lysine Aspartate
Methionine Cysteine
Phenylalanine Glutamate
Threonine Glutamine
Tryptophan Glycine
Valine Proline
Arginine* Serine
Histidine* Tyrosine

In addition to protein synthesis, amino acids have other biologically-important roles. Glycine and glutamate are neurotransmitters as well as standard amino acids in proteins. Many amino acids are used to synthesize other molecules, for example:

Tryptophan is a precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin

Glycine is one of the reactants in the synthesis of porphyrins such as heme

Arginine is used to synthesize the hormone nitric oxide

This is a huge topic and you need to read widely to get some understanding of it; I will leave you to organise a paragraph or two as to why the body needs proteins and why cells need to make proteins and why it is not as simple as eating cheese, fish and meat because they contain protein.

Answer 2

Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) is a large molecule(macromolecule) that is the repository of genetic information as to what amino acids should be attached to make proteins. That is, DNA has the blue print of all the proteins.But this information is sent to the cytoplasm through another type of acid called ribonucleic acid(RNA).RNA is principally of three class: Messenger RNA, Transfer RNA, Ribosomal RNA.Messenger RNA brings along the information from DNA, transfer RNA carries the amino acids to the site of protein synthesis.Ribosomal RNA is a constituent of ribosomes that provide the platform for protein synthesis.

Answer 3

Deoxyribonucleic acid

Answer 4

amino acids