NATS 1610 Lecture Notes - Peptide Bond, Red Blood Cell, Hydrogen Atom
Document Summary
Proteins are polymers of amino acids connected in a specific sequence: polymers are amino acids are called polypeptides, polypeptides must undergo structural changes to become functional proteins. 20 natural amino acids (aa) 8 essential amino acids (must be ingested: specific backbone (-n-c-c-n-c-c-, giant macromolecules (e. g. haemoglobin in red blood cells) Differences between aa-due to differences in their r-groups- different properties. One group of amino acids has non-polar r groups, making them hydrophobic (no oxygen in their r group) One group of amino acids has polar r groups, making them hydrophilic (oxygen part of their r groups) Last group of amino acids includes those with functional groups that are charges (ionized) at cellular ph: notice the presence of additional carboxylic or amino groups in r groups. Instead the resulting covalent bond is a peptide bond. Repeating the process over and over creates a long polypeptide chain: peptide bond formation can also occur when the amino acids are in ionized state.
