Structure of Proteins
Proteins:
Proteins are large biological molecules consisting of one or more chains of amino acids.
Amino Acids:
Amino acids are biologically important organic compounds made from amine (-NH2) and carboxylic acid (-COOH) functional groups, along with a side-chain specific to each amino acid.
Structure of Proteins:
- A protein function depends upon on its specific conformation.
- The primary structure of a protein is determined by the gene corresponding to the protein. In molecular biology, protein structure describes the various levels of organization of protein molecules, which includes:-
• Primary structure
- Secondary structure
- Tertiary structure
- Quaternary structure
Primary Structure
- The primary structure of proteins is the unique sequence of amino acids.
Secondary Structure
- The secondary structure of protein results from hydrogen bond at regular intervals along the polypeptide backbone.
- The typical shapes that develop from the secondary structure are:-
- An Alpha Helix (Coil)
- Beta Pleated Sheet (Fold)
Tertiary Structure
- Tertiary structure refers to a three-dimensional structure of a single protein molecule.
- The tertiary structure of protein results from varieties of attraction between the R groups or between the R group and the polypeptide backbone.
- The interactions includes
- Hydrogen Bonds (among polar areas)
- Ionic Bonds (among charged R – group)
- Hydrophobic interactions (among hydrophobic R-group)
- Van Der Waals Interactions (among hydrophobic R-group)
- Disulfide bridges (Strong covalent bond that forms between sulfhydryl groups (SH) of cysteine monomers, stabilize the structure)
Quaternary Structure
- Quaternary structure results from the aggregation of two or more polypeptide subunits.
- The quaternary structure is stabilized by the same non-covalent interactions and disulfide bonds as the tertiary structure.
Examples:
Hemoglobin
- The protein hemoglobin is made up (primarily) of 4 polypeptides.
- Typically, when a protein is made up of multiple polypeptides, each polypeptide is simply called a protein subunit.
- However, in the case of hemoglobin, the subunits are each called globin.
- The 4 globins are of two types. 2 of them with identical amino acid sequences (primary structure) are called alphaglobins (a-globins), while the other 2 also have identical amino acid sequences and are called beta-globins (b-globins).
- Every hemoglobin molecule contains 2 a-globins and 2 b-globins.
- Each of the globins is folded into a secondary and tertiary structure.
- Then, all four are put together into the hemoglobin molecule's quaternary structure.
Insulin
- Insulin is composed of two peptide chains referred to as the A chain and B chain.
- A and B chains are linked together by two disulfide bonds, and an additional disulfide is formed within the A chain.
- In most species, the A chain consists of 21 amino acids and the B chain of 30 amino acids.
- It is a dimer of an A-chain and a B-chain, which are linked together by disulfide bonds.
Albumin
- The general structure of albumin is characterized by several long α (alpha) helices, this allows it to maintain a relatively static shape, something essential for regulating blood pressure.
- Serum albumin contains eleven distinct binding domains for hydrophobic compounds. One hemin and six long-chain fatty acids can bind to serum albumin at the same time.
Myoglobin (Does not Possess Quaternary Structure)
- Myoglobin consists of a single protein chain with 153 amino acids and one heme group that stores oxygen in the muscle cells.
- Myoglobin has a stronger affinity for oxygen than hemoglobin, which enables the oxygen to shift from one to the other.
Globulin
- It has helices and strands, 13 and 19 respectively.
- The major beta-sheets of globulin are named the A-sheet and the B-sheet.
- The 13 helices are each lettered beginning with letter A.
- The molecule has five cysteine residues but has no disulfide bonds; so sulfur so is not responsible for holding together globulin structure.