Chapter 5: Proteins, Primary Structure Flashcards
One of the keys to deciphering the function of a given protein is to?
understand its structure
what makes proteins different from nucleic acids?
proteins don’t have uniform, regular structures because of the 20 different amino acids with different chemical and physical properties
what is a polypeptide
multiple amino acids attached to each other via peptide/covalent bonds/disulfide bonds
largest known polypeptide ?
titin, helps arrange the repeating structures of muscle fibers
what is the primary structure of a protein ?
the sequence of the amino acids
the first stage of protein formation
simplest form
determines final structure
generally non functional except for insulin
at least how many residues make a polypeptide chain
40 with the vast majority containing between 100-1000 residues
average is 355
what’s unique about insulin
has 2 polypeptide chains (A and B)
an additional disulfide is formed within the A chain.
disulfide bonds between cysteine
only 51 a.a.
how does size affect a proteins optimization of biochemical processes?
Forty residues appears to be near the minimum for a polypeptide chain to fold into a discrete and stable shape that allows it to carry out a particular function.
-Polypeptides with well over 1000 residues may approach the limits of efficiency of the protein synthetic machinery. The longer the polypeptide(and the longer its corresponding mRNA), the greater the likelihood of introducing errors during transcription and translation.
The characteristics of an individual protein depend more on its _____than on its amino acid composition
amino acid sequence
the first step in understanding protein function?
protein purification
purifying a protein helps identify what?
the amino acid sequence and structure
what conditions at all stages of the purification process must be controlled to keep a protein stable and free from damage?
-pH
-temperature
-presence of dergadative
-adsorption to surfaces
-long term storage
Once a protein has been removed from its natural environment, it becomes exposed to many agents that can irreversibly damage it. These influences must be carefully controlled at all stages of a purification process.
what is used to identify a target protein at every stage of the purification process to make sure you’re isolating the right protein?
ASSAY
assays must be?
specific for the target protein, highly sensitive, and convenient to use
Determines whether the protein is present/a means of identifying a protein based on a unique property of the protein?
an assay
2 types of assays?
-enzyme assays
-immunoassays (ELISA replaced by RIA)
what is ELISA
an enzyme-link immunosorbent assay that use antibodies to detect the presence of antigens
first two steps of protein purification
Ist step - get it out of the cell and into the solution
2nd step- keep pH, temperature, and othe conditions controlled
2nd step- make sure protein is present through assays
3rd step- find out fractionation purification process that is dependent on protein characteristic
Among the most straightforward protein assays are those for enzymes that catalyze reactions with readily detected products, because
the rate of product formation is proportional to the amount of enzyme present.
what is used to assist in detecting product in enzyme proteins
Substances with colored or fluorescent products
a coupled enzymatic reaction.
If no such substance is available for the enzyme being assayed, the product of the enzymatic reaction may be converted, by the action of another enzyme, to an easily quantified substance.
Describe the steps of ELISA
- attachment of antibody to polystyrene plate
2.the solution containing protein is applied/binded to the antibody - a second protein-antibody complex with the addition of an enzyme is attached to the existing protein-antibody complex
4.the amount of substrate converted to product indicates the amount of protein present/ the enzyme converts substrate to produce colored product
during ELISA the intensity if color corresponds to the amount of?
compound in a given sample
which process is more sensitive Immunoassays or enzyme assay
immunoassays
what is RIA
radioimmunoassay, A protein in a complex mixture can be detected by its binding to its corresponding antibodies.the protein is indirectly detected by determining the degree to which it competes with a radioactively labeled standard for binding to the antibody.
The concentration of a substance in solution can be measured by?/Protein Concentrations Can Be Determined by
absorbance spectroscopy
what is absorbance spectroscopy’s and its equation
A solution containing a solute that absorbs light does so according to the BeerLambert law,
A=log(I 0/ I)=εcl
-I 0 is the intensity of the incident light at a given wavelength λ,
-I is its transmitted intensity at λ,
-ε is the absorptivity (alternatively, the extinction coefficient) of the solute at λ,
-c is its concentration
-l is the length of the light path in centimeters.
polypeptides absorb strongly in what region and why?
UV around wavelength 200-400 usually at 280 nm
because their aromatic side chains (those of Phe, Trp, and Tyr) have particularly large extinction coefficients in this spectral region
polypeptides do not absorb what? do they have color
visible light around wavelength 400-800 nm
are colorless
Nevertheless, if a protein has a chromophore that absorbs in the visible region of the spectrum, this absorbance can be used to assay for the presence of the protein in a mixture of other proteins.
what about proteins is used to separate them over other proteins?
their properties
what helps simplify the selection of fractionation procedures?
knowing something about the target protein or the proteins it can be separate them
advantages and disadvantages of detecting proteins near 280 UV?
Advantage: This method will give you the absolute concentration of your protein; the colorimetric methods described further down will give you concentrations relative to a standard protein.
Disadvantage: to quantify the specificities protein, the protein needs to be pure. Your protein solution has to be free of other compounds absorbing radiation at 280 nm., can only have that one protein and no contamination from other proteins
why do the aromatics have absorbance in the UV region 280?
because they have a conjugation of pie bonds and its aromaticity
which of the three aromatics have an insignificant/negligent absorbance?
phenylalanine
what are the 3 aromatics
tryptophan and tyrosine
which aromatic has the most absorbance?
Tryptophan
when dealing with a protein that has tryptophan and tyrosine
you can quantify it by measuring the absorbance at 280
A=280, when they’re present the absorbance is larger
what to know about spectrophotometric that has far UV? advantages and disadvantages ?!
extinction coefficient e at 205 nm:
~ 3,000 M-1cm-1 per peptide bond
Advantage: Independent of the amino acid composition of your protein.
Disadvantage: Many other compounds absorb at 205 nm, including most buffers. It would be best to measure in pure water.