ZOOLOGY 100 NOTES (4)

CHEMICAL BASIS OF LIFE

THE PROTOPLASM
IMPORTANT FACTS:
• 25 chemical elements = essential to life
• Atomic structure determines the behavior
of an element.
• Interaction among atoms (how atoms bond to form molecules) is the basis of biological
structure and function.
- Each kind of atom has a characteristic number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
- An atom's behavior (how it interacts with other atoms) is determined by the arrangement
of its electrons.
*body functions depend on cellular functions.
- cellular functions result from chemical changes
* biochemistry helps to explain physiological processes, and develop new drugs and methods for
treating diseases

NATURE OF MATTER
A. ATOMIC STRUCTURE
FACT: the universe is composed of 103+ elements, each with unique atomic structure
ATOM – the smallest unit of matter that cannot be broken down by chemical means
- components: protons,neutrons and electrons

ATOM STRUCTURE

B. MOLECULES – smallest particle of an element;

- formed by 2 or more atoms bonded together
COMPOUNDS – 2 or more different
types of atoms bonded together
C. TYPES OF BONDS
1. IONIC BONDS
2. COVALENT BONDS
3. HYDROGEN BONDS

PROTOPLASM
 The living part of the cell: organic and inorganic compounds
 The primary living substance; the true nature & as the material basis for vital phenomena
(by French naturalist F. Dujardin, 1835)
 In 1861, vegetable sarcode & animal protoplasm was proclaimed by Max Schultze (framer &
founder of the modern notion of the protoplasm)
 In eukaryotes:
- cytoplasm: protoplasm surrounding the nucleus
- the semi fluid protoplasm (colloid/hyaloplasm)
- nucleuplasm: protoplasm inside the nucleus
In prokaryotes:
- bacterial cytoplasm: material inside the plasma membrane
- periplasm: region outside the plasma membrane but inside the outer membrane

 Origin: Gk. Protos (first), & plasma (thing formed)

 - Thomas Huxley: “physical basis of life”
 Properties:
1. Physical – colloidal system
- sol –> gel reversals
2. Chemical – organic and inorganic
compounds
3. Biological - reproduction,metabolism,
irritability, adaptability

Inorganic Substances
Water (H2O): 55-90% of the protoplasm
• most abundant compound in living material
- two-thirds of the weight of an adult human
- major component of all body fluids
• medium for most metabolic reactions
- important role in transporting chemicals in the body
- absorbs and transports heat
Oxygen (O2):
• used by organelles to release energy from nutrients
in order to drive cell’s metabolic activities
- necessary for survival
Carbon dioxide (CO2):
• waste product released during metabolic reactions
- must be removed from the body
• carried through 3 ways:
- 5% in sol’n. In plasma = carbonic acid
- 10% in combt’n. w/ amino grps. Of hemoglobin
- 85% as sodium & potassium bicarbonates (blood salts) in plasma & RBC
Inorganic salts
• abundant in body fluids
• sources of necessary ions (Na+, Cl-, K+, Ca2+, etc.)
• play important roles in metabolism
• hard bulk deposits: bone, teeth or shells

Organic Substances
Carbohydrates
• provide energy to cells
• supply materials to build cell structures
• water-soluble
• contain C, H, and O
• ratio of H to O close to 2:1 (C6H12O6)
FORMS:
• monosaccharides – glucose, fructose, galactose,
pentoses
• disaccharides – sucrose (glucose+ fructose),
- lactose (glucose+galactose), maltose (2 glucose
• polysaccharides – glycogen, cellulose, starch

LIPIDS
 • soluble in organic solvents; insoluble in water
• fats (triglycerides)
• used primarily for energy; most common
lipid in the body
• contain C, H, and O but less O than
carbohydrates (C57H110O6)
• building blocks are 1 glycerol and 3 fatty
acids per molecule
• saturated and unsaturated
• phospholipids
• building blocks are 1 glycerol, 2 fatty acids, and 1 phosphate per molecule
• hydrophilic and hydrophobic
• major component of cell membranes

• steroids
• four connected rings of carbon
• widely distributed in the body, w/ various functions
• component of cell membrane
• used to synthesize hormones
• Cholesterol

PROTEINS
• C, H, O, N
• structural
material
• energy source
• hormones
• receptors
• enzymes
• antibodies
• amino acids held together with peptide bonds

FORMS:
 1. simple:
a. Soluble: albumen
b. Insoluble: keratin, globulins
2. conjugated: non-protein in nature;
a. Nucleoproteins
b. Chromoproteins: hemoglobin, hemocyanin
c. Glycoprotiens: mucin, mucoid (connective tissue)
d. Lecithoprotien: egg yolk
e. Phosphoproteins: casein (milk), ovovitellin (egg yolk)
3. Derived proteins: peptones, proteoses, polypeptides
4. Regulatory proteins:
a. Enzymes: ptyalin (carbohydrate - maltose)
b. Hormones:
i) insulin ii) testosterone & progesterone
c. Vitamins
d. Respiratory pigment: HEMOGLOBIN (hematin: red)

NUCLEIC ACIDS
• carry genes
• encode amino acid sequences of proteins
• building blocks are nucleotides

• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) – double polynucleotide

• RNA (ribonucleic acid) – single polynucleotide
 RNA

CLINICAL APPLICATION
CT Scanning and PET Imaging
• techniques used to give anatomical and physiological information, respectively
• CT scanning uses X-ray emissions to provide 3-D
image of internal body parts
• PET imaging used radioactive isotopes to detect biochemical activity in a specific
body part

MRI produces pictures of various parts of your body without the use of x-rays (unlike regular x-rays
pictures & CT scans) and without the use of nuclear element injection like gallium scans.
MRI scanner consists: of large and very strong magnet in which the patient lies, a radio wave
antenna is used to send signals* to the body and then receive signals back.

-The returning signals are converted into pictures by a computer attached to the scanner.
-Pictures of almost any part of your body can be obtained at almost any particular angle. (* These
"radio wave signals" are actually a varying or changing magnetic field that is much weaker than the
steady,