coenzymes

What is the minimum you need to know about proteins
1. Made of long strings of amino acids
2. 20 amino acids all with different properties, hydrophobic, hydrophyllic polar, and hydrophyllic charged (+) and (-)
3. Two amino acids (AA)are linked by dehydration synthesis
4. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structures
5. Proteins can be enzymes, cell signals, structural or hormones
6. A protein has direction, the first is the N terminus where you find an amino group. The last is the C terminus and it ends in a carboxyl group
7. As a protein is made it will fold up all by itself into its active form
8. There are certain rules for folding, all hydrophobic AA will congregate in the center away from water, polar AA will tend to be on the outside next to water. Charged + AA and charged – AA try to be near each other charged +AA and charged +AA want to be apart ( same as charged –AA and charged -AA)

Know this structure well

What is the minimum you need to know about DNA?
1. It stands for deoxyribonucleic acid
2. It is made of long strings of nucleotides
3. There are only 4 nucleotides in DNA
4.

5. A binds with T and G binds with C always
6. There is a direction to DNA, the very first nucleotide starts with a phosphate group, called the 5’ end and the very last ends in a hydroxyl group, the 3’ end
7. DNA is double stranded but the strands run in opposite directions
8. Two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds but the bonds that hold the phosphate sugar backbone are covalent bonds.
9. Since there are only 4 nucleotides and they have to code for 20 AA you need groups of three
10. you need to understand this table, the only one to memorize is AUG ( remember RNA has a U instead of a T
11. DNA replication starts with unzipping the two strands. DNA polymerase can only lay down a first nucleotide 5’ end. It starts on the 3’end of one original strand and zips down the DNA creating it’s complementary strand- no problem, it’s the leading strand. DNA polymerase is VERY accurate
12. The problem is in the other strand. Since DNA polymerase can only start at a 3’ end laying down the first new 5’ end, it has to make short segments and keep jumping back- it is the lagging strand

13. DNA is in the nucleus and the protein making machinery is in the cytoplasm. RNA polymerase makes mRNA that can leave the nucleus and enter the cytoplasm
14. Once in the cytoplasm the two sections of a ribosome will jump on, look for a start codon- AUG and start making the protein.
15. tRNA’s carry the correct AA to the active site of the ribosome and the correct AA is added to the growing protein chain.
16. A mutation in DNA can have no effect or can be lethal depending on if it is in an important gene
17. DNA makes RNA, RNA makes Proteins

THIS IS A GOOD START BUT IS NOT ALL INCLUSIVE