BIO 320 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Lysine, Proteasome, Covalent Bond
Document Summary
Four noncovalent interactions that affect protein folding: h-bonds, electrostatic interactions (polar molecules! ), van der waals attractions, hydrophobic clustering force. Protein structure is dependent on the amino acid sequence (primary structure) Proteins will fold into a conformation of lowest energy. Let"s quickly talk about energy to get some background . Thermal energy is the energy that comes from heat. This heat is generated by the movement of tiny particles within an object . All atoms and molecules vibrate- a form of energy/movement. If water molecules are in an aqueous solution, the molecules will be able to vibrate and diffuse freely. Molecules, cells, systems want to achieve their lowest energy state. This means proteins want to fold in the correct conformation and water molecules want to freely move around in an aqueous solution. Thermal energy is responsible for the chance encounters" of molecules within a cell.
