3-Dimensional Protein Structure

3-Dimensional protein structure

                                                     

        Today we are learning about proteins.What is proteins? Proteins are large molecules consisting of amino acids which our bodies and the cells in our bodies need to function properly. Our body structures, functions, the regulation of the body's cells, tissues and organs cannot exist without proteins.

Click this link to watch video about 3D proteins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBRFIMcxZNM

Within and outside of cells, proteins serve a myriad of functions, including structural roles (cytoskeleton), as catalysts (enzymes), transporter to ferry ions and molecules across membranes, and hormones to name just a few. 

                               

Imagine proteins as machines; machines which make all living things, from viruses, bacteria, butterflies, jellyfish, plants and humans function. The human body is made up of approximately 100 trillion cells - each one has a specific function. Each cell has thousands of different proteins, which together make the cell do its job - the proteins are tiny machines within the cell.

Amino acids and proteins - protein is made up of amino acids; amino acids are the building blocks of protein, there are 20 of them. Imagine there are 20 different types of bricks, and a much larger number of different types of houses which we could name according to the way we combined the bricks (their sequence). The bricks are the amino acids and the houses are the proteins.

The structures are composed of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary

Structural features of proteins are usually described at four levels of complexity:

• Primary structure: the linear arrangment of amino acids in a protein and the location of covalent linkages such as disulfide bonds between amino acids.
• Secondary structure: areas of folding or coiling within a protein; examples include alpha helices and pleated sheets, which are stabilized by hydrogen bonding.
• Tertiary structure: the final three-dimensional structure of a protein, which results from a large number of non-covalent interactions between amino acids.
• Quaternary structure: non-covalent interactions that bind multiple polypeptides into a single, larger protein. Hemoglobin has quaternary structure due to association of two alpha globin and two beta globin polyproteins.

                                           
                                                   THIS IS PRIMARY STRUCTURE

There are four types of protein structure