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83 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What structurally characterizes fatty acids? |
A long carbon chain (12 C or more) with a carboxyl group attached |
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What is a saturated fatty acid? |
A fatty acid that is "saturated" with hydrogen. There are no double bonds present. |
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What is an unsaturated fatty acid? |
A fatty acid that contains 1 or more double bonds, therefore, it is not saturated with hydrogen. |
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What can be said about the isomerism around the double bond of an unsaturated fatty acid? |
In most organisms, fatty acids are cis |
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As a fatty acid chain gets longer... |
...the melting point increases |
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When a fatty acid lengthens, its melting point increases. If so, what can be said about fatty acids with double bonds? |
Fatty acids with a double bond will have a lower melting point than fatty acids that lack them. |
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Saturated fatty acid chains can pack closely together to form ordered, rigid arrays under certain conditions, but unsaturated fatty acid chains... |
...prevent such close packing due to the double bonds present. Therefore, unsaturated fatty acid chains form flexible, fluid aggregates. |
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Because unsaturated fatty acid chains don't pack tightly... |
...membranes made of them have an increased fluidity and movement. |
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According to IUPAC naming conventions, how do you denote a molecule that has 12, 14, 16, 18, or 20 carbons? |
12: dodec. 14: tetradec, 16: hexadec, 18: octadec, and 20: eicos. |
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What is the name of a fatty acid that is 18 carbons long with one double bond in the chain at position 9? |
cis-9-octadecenoic acid |
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What are two essential fatty acids? |
Linoleic acid and alpha linoleic acid |
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What purpose do essential fatty acids serve? |
They act as precursor molecules to other essential molecules |
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What is eicosanoic acid derived from? |
Linoleic acid |
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What is eicosanoic acid the precursor to? |
All eicosanoids |
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What are two eicosanoids? |
Prostaglandins and leukotrienes |
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What do prostaglandins induce? |
The inflammatory response |
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What is ibuprofen/aspirin? |
An anti-prostaglandin |
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What do ibuprofen/aspirin inhibit specifically? |
COX 2 |
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What does COX-2 convert eicosanoic acid into? |
Arachadonic acid (a prostaglandin) |
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By inhibiting COX-2, what does eicosanoic acid degrade into? |
Leukotrienes |
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How can prostaglandins and leukotrienes be differentiated based on structure? |
Prostaglandins form a circular ring while leukotrienes are linear |
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High LDLs and low HDLs can lead to... |
...Heart disease, atherosclerosis, and an increased inflammatory response |
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What does LDL stand for? |
Low density lipoproteins |
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What does HDL stand for? |
High density lipoproteins |
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What do statins do? |
Increase HDL's and lower LDL's, therefore, acting as an anti-inflammatory |
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How can a triacylglycerol be identified based on its structure? |
A triacylglycerol is a lipid with a glycerol backbone that has three fatty acids attached to it |
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What kind of bond attaches fatty acids to the glycerol backbone? |
Ester bonds |
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By what mechanism are fatty acids attached to the glycerol backbone? |
Via de-hydration of the glycerol and fatty acid. |
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Where are a vast majority of triacylglycerols stored? |
Adipose tissue |
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What is the main function of adipose tissue? |
Long term energy storage |
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What are two other functions of adipose tissue? |
Thermal insulation and as endocrine tissue |
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What can be said about the fatty acids in triacylglycerides? |
There will be 2 or 3 different fatty acids attached to the glycerol. |
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Are triacylglycerides with three identical fatty acids found in nature? |
No. If they are found, they have been manufactured. |
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What is glycerol derived from? |
Glucose |
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What is the process of soponification? |
The base catalyzed hydrolysis of fatty acid esters |
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During soponification, what is formed? |
A sodium carboxylate salt |
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What is a micelle? |
An circular aggregate of lipids with the hydrophobic groups facing towards the center and the polar groups facing out. |
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How do micelles form? |
Micelles form when amphipathic molecules arrange themselves in the most thermodynamically favored (i.e. hydrophobic tails go inward, while polar heads go out). |
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What condition has to be met for a micelle to form spontaneously? |
The concentration of surfactant is greater than the critical micelle concentration (CMC). |
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What is the critical micelle concentration? |
The concentration above surfactant when micelles form |
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What is a surfactant? |
Any surface active material that can part the surface upon entering |
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The higher the critical micelle concentration... |
...the more micelles there are. |
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The lower the critical micelle concentration... |
...the less micelles there are. |
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What do soaps do to the critical micelle concentration? |
They decrease it |
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What do soaps do to the critical micelle concentration in water? |
It increases |
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What characterizes a glycerophospholipid? |
A diacylglycerol that has a phosphate group esterified attached at the third C of the glycerol backbone |
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What class of lipids are all glycerophosopholipids considered? |
Phospholipids |
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Gylcerophospholipids are critical components of... |
...cell membranes |
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In a glycerophospholipid, what is "head" group and what are the "tails?" |
The phosphate group is considered the "head" and the fatty acids are the "tails" |
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What is the parent compound of all glycerophospholipids? |
Phosphatidic acid |
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Because of the phosphate group, phosphatidic acid is... |
...negatively charged |
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When a choline group forms a phosphoester bond with the phosphate group of phosphatidic acid, what does it form? |
Phosphotidylcholine (PC's) |
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When the positively charged choline is attached to the negatively charged phosphate group of a phosphatidic acid, what can be said about the overall charge of the lipid? |
The charge of the lipid has been permanently changed and it has a neutral charge |
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What is the name of this molecule? |
Choline |
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What is the name of this molecule? |
Ethanolamine |
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What determines the packing ability of phospholipids? |
The presence and/or number of double bonds in the phospholipid |
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What can be said about the composition of a cellular membrane? |
It is made up of various diacylglycerophosphates and cholesterol |
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When there is more cholesterol present in a membrane... |
...the membrane is more fluid |
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Why does an increased amount of cholesterol increase the fluidity of a membrane? |
There are more double bonds present in cholesterol, therefore, they do not pack as tightly |
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What is a key enzyme present in snake venoms? |
Phospholipase |
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What is the function of a phospholipase? |
It is an enzyme that hydrolyzes phospholipids. Specifically, the bond between C1 of the fatty acid and the O it is attached to. |
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If phospholipase removes 1 fatty acid at C2, what does the phospholipid become? |
A lysolecithin |
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What is lysolecithin? |
An ionic detergent that dissolves cellular membranes |
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What characterizes a etherglycerophospholipid? |
An ether linkage to the phosphate group at C1 |
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What is an example of an etherglycerophospholipid? |
Platelet activating factor |
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What is the function of platelet activating factor? |
It causes the aggregation of platelets at the site of a wound and causes vasodilation |
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What characterizes a sphingolipid? |
The backbone is sphingosine and not glycerol |
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What can sphingolipids form that glycolipids can't? |
A fatty acid amide |
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If there is a fatty acid amide present at C2 on a sphingolipid it is called... |
...a ceramide |
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When you combine a ceramide with a phosphate, you get... |
...a sphingomyeline |
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When you combine a ceramide with a sugar hemiacietal, you get... |
...a glycosphingolipid |
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Nervous tissue membranes have... |
...an increased concentration of sphingolipids |
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What are waxes? |
Esters of long chain alcohols and a saturated fatty acid (usually) |
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What is lanolin derived from? |
Sheep's wool |
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What physical properties characterize lanolin? |
It is one of the softest waxes and it is easily absorbed |
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What is carnauba wax derived from? |
The carnauba palm of Brazil |
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What physical properties characterize carnauba wax? |
It is one of the hardest waxes and it repels water |
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Lipids without fatty acids are usually composed of what? |
Terpenes |
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Terpenes make up what kinds of lipids? |
Steroids and isoprenoids |
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Terpenes are formed by the combination of two or more molecules of what? |
2-methyl-1,3-butadiene (isoprene) |
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A monoterpene (C10) consists of two what? |
Isoprenes |
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What are two types of triterpenes? |
Squalene and lanosterol |
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What is an example of a tetraterpene? |
Betacarotenoids |
