Biochemistry: The Molecular Basis of Life 7th Edition

Book Preface

Biochemistry: The Molecular Basis of Life. Although this textbook has been revised and updated to reflect the latest research in biochemistry, our original mission remains unchanged. We continue to believe that the cornerstone of an education in the life sciences is a coherent understanding of the basic principles of biochemistry. Once they have mastered these foundational biochemical concepts, students are prepared to tackle the complexities of their chosen science fields. To that end, we have sought comprehensive coverage of biochemical systems, structures, and reactions, but within the context of the organism. We have thus sought a unique balance between chemistry and biology, while also considering their applications to medicine and human health.

ORGANIZATION AND APPROACH CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN BALANCE

As with previous editions, the seventh edition is designed for both life science students and chemistry majors. We provide thorough coverage of biochemical principles, structures, and reactions, but within a biological context that emphasizes their relevance.

A REVIEW OF BASIC PRINCIPLES

Few assumptions have been made about a student’s chemistry and biology background. To ensure that all students are sufficiently prepared for acquiring a meaningful understanding of biochemistry, the first four chapters review the principles of such topics as organic functional groups, non-covalent bonding, thermodynamics, and cell structure. These chapters can either be covered in class or assigned for self-study.

Several topics are introduced in these early chapters and then revisited throughout the book.

Examples include cell volume changes triggered by metabolic processes that alter osmotic balance across membranes, the self-assembly of biopolymers such as proteins into supermolecular structures, and proteostasis, the mechanisms whereby cells protect proteins and when necessary degrade them. Other important concepts that are emphasized include the relationship between biomolecular structure and function and the dynamic, unceasing, and self-regulating nature of living processes. Students are also provided with overviews of the major physical and chemical techniques that biochemists have used to explore life at the molecular level.

REAL-WORLD RELEVANCE

Because students who take the one-semester biochemistry course come from a range of backgrounds and have diverse career goals, the seventh edition consistently demonstrates the fascinating connections between biochemical principles and the worlds of medicine, nutrition, agriculture, bioengineering, and forensics. Biochemistry in Perspective essays and chapter-opening vignettes, as well as dozens of examples integrated into the body of the text, help students see the relevance of biochemistry to their chosen fields of study.

SUPERIOR PROBLEM-SOLVING PROGRAM

Analytical thinking is at the core of the scientific enterprise, and mastery of biochemical principles requires consistent and sustained engagement with a wide range of problems. The seventh edition continues to present students with a complete problem-solving system. This includes in-chapter worked problems, which illustrate how quantitative problems are solved, as well as dozens of practice questions presented throughout the text when new concepts and high-interest topics are introduced. There is also a large set of end-ofchapter questions, including hundreds of new problems, all reorganized for this edition by section number and question type. These include new study questions designed to help students in prehealth programs prepare for the MCAT test.

SIMPLE, CLEAR ILLUSTRATIONS

Biochemical concepts often require a high degree of visualization, and we have crafted an art program that brings complex processes to life. More than 720 full-color figures fill the pages of the seventh edition, many newly enhanced with consistent scale and color for a more vivid presentation.

CURRENCY

The seventh edition has been updated to present recent developments in the field, while remaining focused on the “big-picture” principles that are the cornerstone of the one-term biochemistry course. These changes again reflect the goal of balanced and thorough coverage of chemistry within a biological context. A detailed list of updated material follows in the next section.

NEW IN THIS EDITION
As a result of the rapid pace of discovery in the life sciences and our commitment to provide students with the highest-quality learning system available in any biochemistry textbook, we have revised the seventh edition in the following ways:
• New and Updated Applications. The seventh edition includes two new Biochemistry in Perspective essays, on Alzheimer’s disease and the Ebola virus. In addition, a new Biochemistry in the Lab essay introduces the genome-editing tool CRISPR. Together with revised features on carcionogenesis, diabetes, the atherosclerotic process, proteomics, protein analysis, and bioinformatics, these essays will inspire student interest into the latest developments in medical and biochemistry research.
• Expanded Problem-Solving Program. The seventh edition includes hundreds of new end-ofchapter questions organized by section number and problem type—multiple-choice, fill-in-theblank, short-answer, and critical thinking. New to this edition is a set of questions designed to help students preparing for the MCAT exam.
• Brand-New Illustrations. With 34 new figures, the seventh edition incorporates a superior and expanded art program designed to help students develop a strong visual grasp of biochemical processes. Many figures have been enhanced for vivid, clear, and consistent presentation.
• New, Expanded, and Updated Coverage of Current Topics. The following is a list of some, but not all, of the updated content that has been introduced in the seventh edition:
• The General and Organic Chemistry Review Primer gets students off to the right start with a review of foundational topics in general and organic chemistry. Revised for this edition, the primer includes two new worked problems and a new figure showing trends in the periodic table.
• Chapter 2 contains more detailed coverage of the function and structure of the Golgi apparatus, including an updated explanation of the role of anterograde and retrograde transport in the processing of new lipid and protein molecules.
• Chapter 4 offers an expanded discussion of energy currency molecules that introduces NADH, NADPH, and FADH2 as electron carriers with considerable reducing power.
• Chapter 5 provides new information on the roles of the peptides vasopressin and oxytocin along with an updated discussion of multifunctional proteins, including moonlighting proteins. There is also new information on intrinsically unstructured proteins and intrinsically disordered regions, and a new figure highlights the unstructured protein domains of p53, an important tumor suppressor protein. The Biochemistry in the Lab essay on protein technology has been revised to include a new brief discussion of high-performance liquid chromatography as a protein analysis technique.
• Chapter 6 has been dramatically reorganized to present catalysis before the discussion of enzyme kinetics. The chapter opens with a new feature on pain, aspirin, and the COX enzymes. New illustrations enhance the descriptions of the structure and functional properties of α-carbonic anhydrase and alcohol dehydrogenase.
• Chapter 7 now includes an explanation of the importance of glycosylation reactions in animal biology. The discussion of glycoconjugates has been thoroughly revised, with an expanded explanation of the structure and functions of proteoglycans complete with a new illustration of proteoglycan aggregate structure.
• Chapter 8 begins with a new overview of metabolism that introduces the concepts of signal transduction and genetic regulatory pathways in relation to core metabolic pathways. The discussion of glycolysis regulation includes a revised presentation of hexokinases.
• Chapter 9 features a new illustration of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, a revised presentation of the eight reactions of the citric acid cycle, and a major updating of the discussion of carcinogenesis and the Warburg effect.
• Chapter 10 offers a set of new figures to present a clearer illustration of electron transport and its components. There is also a new discussion of creatine kinase and creatine, featuring an illustration of the creatine kinase–phosphocreatine shuttle system, which facilitates intracellular transport of high-energy phosphate. An extensive new description of the redox proteome and the four principles of the redox code explain how sensitive redox signaling is a major feature of numerous organismal processes.
• Chapter 11 presents a new Biochemistry in Perspective essay on Alzheimer’s disease and apolipoprotein E. A new figure illustrating the structures of ApoE3 and ApoE4 helps to show why individuals with the ApoE4 variant have an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
There is also a new in-chapter question on ATP hydrolysis and the unique digestive issues in alligators.
• Chapter 12 features extensive revisions to the Biochemistry in Perspective essay on the atherosclerotic process. Included in this discussion is the distinction between the different atherosclerosis risks of small buoyant and small dense LDLs.
• Revised figures in Chapter 13 better explain the noncyclic and cyclic electron transport pathways in chloroplasts.
• Chapter 15 contains updates to the explanation of ubiquitination and proteasomes. There is also a new table on the carbon skeletons of glucogenic and ketogenic amino acids.
• In Chapter 16, the discussion of hormones and intercellular communication has been thoroughly revised, with extensive new coverage of G-protein–coupled receptors, including new illustrations of G protein and GPCR and an extended discussion of GPCR regulation. Greater attention is given to the functions of insulin and receptor tyrosine kinase signaling.
The Biochemistry in Perspective feature on diabetes has been expanded to cover type 3 diabetes and the link between insulin resistance and obesity, atherosclerosis, and fatty liver disease.
• Chapter 17 now includes an extended discussion of chromatin, complete with illustrations of chromosome territories and TAD chromosomal boundary structure. There is also a new description of DNA and RNA transposons, as well as new discoveries of transfer RNA and noncoding RNA functions. A new Biochemistry in Perspective essay examines the Ebola virus.
• Chapter 18 includes updated coverage of DNA synthesis and repair, including a description of the SOS response triggered when bacterial cells are exposed to high levels of UV light or mutagenic chemicals. The Biochemistry in the Lab feature on genomics includes updated information on genomic libraries, DNA microarrays, and bioinformatics. A new Biochemistry in the Lab feature examines CRISPR, the genome-editing technology now widely used in biomedical research. The Biochemistry in Perspective essay on carcinogenesis features an extended discussion of the link between cancer and lncRNAs.
• Chapter 19 includes new material on the initiation phase of eukaryotic protein synthesis,including an explanation of the 43S preinitiation complex and of transcript localization as a mechanism for directing mRNAs to discrete cellular locations. The Biochemistry in the Lab essay includes new methods in proteomics that analyze protein complex mixtures by combining mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography.

Brief Contents
Chapter-Opening Vignettes
Biochemistry in Perspective Essays
Biochemistry in the Lab Boxes
Preface
General and Organic Chemistry Review Primer
1. Biochemistry: An Introduction
2. Living Cells
3. Water: The Matrix of Life
4. Energy
5. Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins
6. Enzymes
7. Carbohydrates
8. Carbohydrate Metabolism
9. Aerobic Metabolism I: The Citric Acid Cycle
10. Aerobic Metabolism II: Electron Transport and Oxidative Phosphorylation
11. Lipids and Membranes
12. Lipid Metabolism
13. Photosynthesis
14. Nitrogen Metabolism I: Synthesis
15. Nitrogen Metabolism II: Degradation
16. Integration of Metabolism
17. Nucleic Acids
18. Genetic Information
19. Protein Synthesis
Appendix: Solutions
Glossary
Credits
Index