Amino Acids and Protein Structure Flashcards
What are the two main functional roles of proteins in humans?
1.) Dynamic functions -ex: globular proteins (spherical) 2.)Structural proteins -ex: fibrous proteins (elongated)
The vast majority of types of protein
- small in abundance
- Spherical
Globular proteins
Small in number of types
- large in abundance
- Elongated
Fibrous (structural) proteins
What are three transport proteins?
1.) hemoglobin 2.) transferrin 3.) ion translocating ATPases
What are three types of gene expression proteins?
1.) Histones 2.) Polymerase 3.) Transcription factors
What are two proteins that function in the catalysis of Chemical Transformation?
- ) Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
- ) Pyruvate Kinase
- both are enzymes
Single base substitutions in DNA can cause disease by
Altering protein structure and function
What is the central dogma of molecular biology?
DNA —> RNA —> Protein
Sickle Cell disease is caused by a
Glutimate 6 is substituted with Valine
Amino acids can undergo post translational modifications to give far more than 20 types. What are some of the post translational modifications a.a.’s can undergo?
Methylation, formylation, adenylation, etc
Amino acids exist as zwitterions, meaning they are
Overall neutral, but have charges
What is the pKa of the amino group of an a.a.?
pKa = 9
What is the pKa of the carboxyl group of the a.a.?
pKa = 2
When pH = pKa, the ratio of protonated to deprotonated amino acid is?
[protonated] = [deprotonated]
Proteins are made up exclusively of
L-aminos
Generally toxic, but can exist in cell walls
D-aminos
To tell configuration, orient amino so you are looking down the H-C bond. For L-aminos, the R group should be
To the right of the COO-
What is the driving force in protein folding?
The Hydrophobic effect
The surface of a protein is not exclusively
Polar -will be a mixture of polar and nonpolar
The interior of a protein is almost exclusively
Hydrophobic side chains
A globular group of 100 to 300 amino acids
Domain
Out of the 100-300 a.a.’s making up a domain, how many are used for catalysis?
Typically less than a dozen.
-The rest serve structural purposes
The sulfur in Methionine is
Inert
The only achiral amino acid is
Glycine
Provides rigidity and stability to protein
-Only amino acid that occasionlly exists in the cis conformation (15%)
Proline
Proline is classified as an
imino acid
Aromatic a.a.’s can be on cell surface because of the enhanced stability resulting from
Aromaticity
In order to form, a hydrogen bond requires
- ) The right distance (3 Angstroms)
- ) The right geometry
The 6 neutral polar amino acids are perfect for
Post translational modifications
What three aminos are easily phosphorylated?
-readily reversible
Serine, Threonine, and Tyrosine
Add phosphate groups
Kinases
Remove phosphate groups
Phosphatases
Adding sugar to an amino acid
- creates hydrophilic surface of protein
- a great solubilizer
Glycosylation
What are the two types of glycosylation?
- ) O-linked (serine and threonine)
- ) N-linked (Aparagine)
Do not occur within cytoplasmic proteins because the cellular environment is highly reducing
-only occurs in oxidizing environments
Disulfide bonds
Disulfide bonds are not a driving force in
Protein folding
Disulfide bonds readily occur in
Extracellular proteins or domains
The inside of cells are reducing environments due to reducing agents such as
Glutathione
Has the only side chain that will cross-link protein chains together without the addition of post translational modifications
Cysteine
Contains 6 cysteines and three disulfide bonds
- 2 interchain
- 1 intrachain
Insulin
What is the pKa of the side chains of Glutamate and Aspartate?
pKa = 4
Great for the surface of a protein because they carry a -1 charge
Aspartate and Glutamate
What happens to the pKa of Asp and Glu’s side chains if it is unfavorable to deprotinate them?
-i.e. in the hydrophobic interior or if the two negative charges would be too close together
The pKa increases
-shows that pKa’s are actually variable
The pKa of glutimate increases when it is directly next to an
Aspartate
Which amino acid plays a role in metabolism as a nitrogen donor?
Glutamate