Key Area 2 - Proteins Flashcards
The Proteome
What is a genome?
All the hereditary information encoded in DNA.
What is a proteome?
The proteome is the entire set of proteins expressed by a genome.
Why is the proteome larger than the genome?
The proteome is larger than the number of
genes, particularly in eukaryotes, because more than one protein can be produced from a single gene as a result of alternative RNA splicing.
Not all genes are expressed as proteins in a particular cell type - why is this?
The set of proteins expressed by a given cell type can vary over time and under different conditions.
What are genes that do not code for proteins called?
Genes that do not code for proteins are called non-coding RNA genes (introns) and include those that are transcribed to produce tRNA, rRNA, and RNA molecules that control the expression of other genes.
What are factors that affect a set of proteins being expressed?
Some factors affecting the set of proteins expressed by a given cell type are the
metabolic activity of the cell, cellular stress,
the response to signalling molecules, and diseased versus healthy cells.
The Synthesis and Transport of Proteins
Intracellular Membranes
Explain Eukaryotic cells
Eukaryotic cells have a system of internal
membranes, which increases the total area of membrane.
Explain the difficulty with the size of eukaryotes
Because of their size, eukaryotes have a relatively small surface area to volume ratio.
The plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells is therefore too small an area to carry out all the vital functions carried out by membranes.
What does the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) form?
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms a network of membrane tubules continuous with the nuclear membrane.
What is the Golgi Apparatus?
The Golgi apparatus is a series of flattened
membrane discs.
What are Lysosomes?
Lysosomes are membrane-bound organelles containing a variety of hydrolases that digest proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and carbohydrates.
What is the role of Vesicles?
Vesicles transport materials between
membrane compartments.
What is the cytoplasm?
The entire contents within the cell membrane, including organelles but not the contents of the nucleus.
What is the cytosol?
The intracellular fluid which surrounds the organelles.
Synthesis of Membrane Components
What is synthesised in the ER?
Lipids and proteins are synthesised in the ER.
Describe the difference between the Rough ER (RER) and the Smooth ER (SER)
Rough ER (RER) has ribosomes on its cytosolic face while smooth ER (SER) lacks ribosomes.
What is synthesised in the SER?
Lipids are synthesised in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) and inserted into its membrane.
Where does synthesis of proteins begin?
The synthesis of all proteins begins in
cytosolic ribosomes.
What protein synthesis is completed in the cytosolic ribosomes?
The synthesis of cytosolic proteins is completed there, and these proteins remain in the cytosol.
What do transmembrane proteins carry and what does this do?
Transmembrane proteins carry a signal sequence, which halts translation and directs the ribosome synthesising the protein to dock with the ER, forming RER.
What is a signal sequence?
A signal sequence is a short stretch of amino acids at one end of the polypeptide that determines the eventual location of a protein in a cell.
What happens after docking?
Translation continues after docking, and the protein is inserted into the membrane of the ER.
Movement of Proteins between Membranes
What happens after proteins are in the ER?
Once the proteins are in the ER, they are
transported by vesicles that bud off from the ER and fuse with the Golgi apparatus.
What happens as proteins move through the Golgi Apparatus?
As proteins move through the Golgi apparatus they undergo post-translational modification.
Explain Post Translational Modification
PTM is the alteration of the protein after translation. PTM occurs in the RER, Golgi Apparatus or at the final functional site of the protein.
PTM can involve: the addition of a chemical group; the proteolytic cleavage of the polypeptide.
Name types of Post Translational Modifications
Lipidation - attaches a lipid, fatty acid to a protein.
Ubiquitination - adds ubiquitin to a lysine residue of a target protein.
Disulfide Bond - covalently links the ‘s’ atom of two different cysteine residues.
Acetylation - adds an acetyl group to the N-terminus of a protein to increase stability.
Glycosylation - attaches a sugar, usually to an ‘N’ or ‘O’ atom in an amino acid.
Phosphorylation - adds a phosphate to serine, threonine or tyrosine.