MBG 2040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Protein Folding, Aldehyde, Electronegativity
Document Summary
Protein structure involves complex macromolecules composed of 20 different amino acids. Protein are the most prevalent component of living organisms in terms of total mass. Proteins are composed of polypeptides and every polypeptide is encoded by a gene. Each polypeptide consists of a long sequence of amino acids linked together by covalent bonds. A peptide is a compound composed of two or more amino acids. The amino acids in polypeptides are covalently linked by linkages called peptide bonds. Each peptide bond is formed by a reaction between the amino group of one amino acid and the carboxyl group of a second amino acid with the release of a water molecule (condensation) Four different levels of organization - primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary. The primary structure of a polypeptide is its amino acid sequence which is specified by the nucleotide sequence of a gene. The secondary structure refers to the spatial interrelationships of the amino acid in segments of polypeptide.