Lipids built on four fused carbon rings, including cholesterol and hormones like oestrogen and testosterone.
Steroids share a skeleton of three six-membered rings and one five-membered ring. Cholesterol regulates membrane fluidity and is the precursor of steroid hormones, bile salts and vitamin D. Steroid hormones are lipid-soluble and enter cells to bind intracellular receptors.
Lipids built on four fused carbon rings, including cholesterol and hormones like oestrogen and testosterone.
Steroids is one of the 51 topics in Biomolecules & Biochemistry. It is rated Intermediate, so it suits learners who already know the core vocabulary. Related topics in this area include Lipid Rafts, Carbon Chemistry, Phospholipids.
Anabolic steroids mimic testosterone and have serious side effects.
Work through the Beginner topics in Biomolecules & Biochemistry first, such as Water Properties, Carbon Chemistry, Carbohydrates, then return to Steroids. Intermediate topics assume the Beginner vocabulary.
The closest topics to Steroids are Lipid Rafts, Carbon Chemistry, Phospholipids, Macromolecules. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Steroids. To practise the whole of Biomolecules & Biochemistry, use the Biomolecules & Biochemistry quiz.
Steroids: Lipids built on four fused carbon rings, including cholesterol and hormones like oestrogen and testosterone. Lipid Rafts: Cholesterol and sphingolipid-rich membrane microdomains that cluster signalling proteins. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Lipid Rafts and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Biomolecules & Biochemistry quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Cholesterol and sphingolipid-rich membrane microdomains that cluster signalling proteins.
⚗️ Biomolecules & BiochemistryCarbon forms four covalent bonds, allowing chains, rings and the huge variety of organic molecules in living things.
⚗️ Biomolecules & BiochemistryLipids with a hydrophilic phosphate head and two hydrophobic tails that self-assemble into membranes.
⚗️ Biomolecules & BiochemistryLarge polymers formed by condensation reactions and broken down by hydrolysis, including carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids.
⚗️ Biomolecules & Biochemistry