Macromolecule Function: A Deep Dive into Biological Macromolecules

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the four major macromolecules: proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. It details the monomeric units (amino acids, nucleotides, monosaccharides) and how they polymerize to form complex structures. The report explores the spe...Read More

Running head: MACROMOLECULE FUNCTION
MACROMOLECULE FUNCTION
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MACROMOLECULE FUNCTION
Introduction
A macromolecule is a very large molecule that is made up of all living organism. The
common macromolecules include protein, lipid, carbohydrate and nucleic acid. This paper aims
to provide in-depth details of the monomer, polymer and common macromolecules and specific
interactions for maintaining shapes and functioning in the following paragraphs.
Discussion
The four common macromolecules that are crucial for healthy functioning include
protein, lipid, carbohydrate and nucleotide. The details each macromolecule are the following:
Protein:
A monomer is a single molecule that is joined together to form polymers. Proteins are
made up of small monomers such as amino acids. The amino acids are made up of the H, O, N, C
that together joined to produce peptide. The secondary form is peptide is beta-sheet and alpha-
helix where were held shaped by hydrogen bonds (carbonyl O of one amino acid with amine H
of another amino acid). B sheets help to maintain the 3D structure of protein where alpha helix
helps to simulate molecular dynamics or twists (Fernandez-Leiro & Scheres, 2016). The tertiary
structure is a three-dimensional structure protein which is a polymer and it has a single
polypeptide chain as a backbone. Peptides are responsible for exact functioning (catalyzing
biochemical reaction) and maintaining shape. Proteins are optimized in this way for catalysis. It
is a liner biopolymer.
Nucleic acid:

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A polymer is defined as the chemical compound where molecules are bonded together in
repeating and long chains. In this context, DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is considered the
polymers where the monomeric units are nucleotides. DNA is optimized for encoding
information. Hence, DNA has also known polynucleotide and each of them is monomers such as
5 carbon sugar known as deoxyribose, a nitrogen base connected to the sugar along with
phosphate. The common bases are guanine, thymine, cytosine and adenine (Fernandez-Leiro &
Scheres, 2016). They are made up phosphodiester bonds to maintain the proper shape and
required for assembly, maintenance and reproducing the living organisms (Scholten & De Vries,
2017). Another type of nucleic acid is RNA that is a polymer. The RNA is made up of monomers
such as phosphate, a ribose and bases such as guanine, uracil, cytosine and adenine. Similar to
DNA, RNA is also held together with the help of phosphodiester bond where hydrogen bonds are
linking them for optimizing the shape and function (encoding proteins). It is liner biopolymer
Carbohydrates:
Monosaccharide is made up of similar sugar such as glucose and it is considered as the
monomer. They cannot be hydrolyzed into further simpler and they joined together to form
disaccharides such as sucrose and lactose. On the other hand, the polysaccharide is made up of
numerous Monosaccharides (Doerr, 2017). For maintaining the shape and functions (providing
energy), the carbohydrates are joined together with the assistance of glycosides bonds. Unlike
protein and nucleic acids, they are branched polymers.
Lipids:
Unlike other macromolecules, lipids cannot be defined by the chemical structure and
considered as the non-polar molecules. In this context, some are held by ester bonds, some are

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huge aggregates of small molecules held together by hydrophobic interactions (Walther, Chung
& Farese Jr, 2017).
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said four macromolecules Protein, nucleic acids,
carbohydrate and lipid. While protein (monomers: peptides, polymers: proteins), nucleic acids
(monomers: Nucleotides, polymers: DNA, RNA) carbohydrates (monomers: Monosaccharides,
polymers: Polysaccharides) are polymeric, lipids are non-polymerics. For maintaining the
functions and shapes, they are bonded by a range of different bonds such as proteins with peptide
bonds, nucleic acids with phosphodiester bonds and polysacchraides with glycosidic bonds.

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References:
Doerr, A. (2017). Sequencing for carbohydrates. Nature Methods, 14(12), 1126-1126.
Fernandez-Leiro, R., & Scheres, S. H. (2016). Unravelling biological macromolecules with
cryo-electron microscopy. Nature, 537(7620), 339-346.
Scholten, E., & De Vries, A. (2017). Proteins as building blocks for oil structuring. In Edible Oil
Structuring (pp. 150-174).
Walther, T. C., Chung, J., & Farese Jr, R. V. (2017). Lipid droplet biogenesis. Annual review of
cell and developmental biology, 33, 491-510.