Amino Acids and Proteins Flashcards
What are the main building blocks of biological materials?
-Soft biological polymers (proteins, polysaccharides)
-Hard minerals
What are the four most predominant elements in the human body?
Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen
What is the most abundant element by weight in the human body? What is the most abundant mineral by weight?
Oxygen
Calcium
What is 25% of the proteins in the human body?
Collagen
What are proteins made of?
Polymers - a chain of amino acids forms the primary structure
How many different R groups are found in natural proteins?
21
Which R group is the main target when making bioadhesives?
The carboxylic acid group
Which three amino acids have carboxylic acid groups?
Aspartic acid, glutamic acid, leucine
What is the shape of the primary structure of proteins and why?
The primary structure of proteins is linear because the DNA/mRNA sequence is a linear string of information that encodes the amino acids to make proteins
How does polymerization of amino acids occur?
The polypeptide chain can rotate about the peptide bonds and the C-C bonds so the chain can fold into a wide variety of configurations
What types of chemical bonds are found in proteins?
Hydrogen, van der Waals, or covalent bonds form between the amino acids in same or different chains of the protein
What are the two common forms of secondary structure in proteins?
Alpha helix and beta sheets
What are the notable bonding and secondary structure characteristics of fibronectin?
The beta sheets are stiffer than the rest of the chain
Reversible hydrogen bonds stabilize the secondary structure of beta sheet motifs
What is responsible for the observed self-healing behavior of fibronectin?
Hydrogen bonds
What role do the spike proteins on viruses play?
-Mediate the attachment between virus and host cell surface receptors
-Facilitate viral entry into the cell
