NUTRITN 230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Vitamin B6, Malnutrition, Complete Protein
Document Summary
Proteins: most complex of all organic molecules: they consist of long chains of 100 amino acids that are linked via peptide bonds. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids found in proteins each unique chemical structure. Other amino acids exist, but they are not incorporated into proteins during protein synthesis. The 20 different amino acids are used like an alphabet to spell out the structure of particular proteins. The sequence of amino acids in a protein is specified by a gene (sequence of dna) Chains of more than 10 or so amino acids are known as polypeptides. Amino acids: the building blocks of proteins: every amino acid contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Every amino acid consists of a central carbon, atom linking four subunits: the amino group (nh2), the carboxylic acid group (cooh), a hydrogen atom, and variable side chain. Amino acids are joined together by peptide bonds.