Lecture 1: Levels of Protein Structure Flashcards
Key Types of Proteins
- Enzymatic
- Defensive
- Storage
- Transport
- Hormonal
- Receptor
- Contractile/motor
- Structural
Primary Structure is based on…
Amino acid sequence
Structure of amino acids
- central tentrahedral carbon (alpha carbon)
- linked to:
1. amino group
2. side chain, r group
3. hydrogen atom
4. carboxylic acid
Most common form of amino acids
L form
*this means that the amino group is on the left, H on the right in fischer projection
*doesnt say anything about rotation of light!
(except glycine)
Enantiomers vs Diastereomers
(as it relates to amino acids)
enantiomers = mirror images
diastereomers = not mirror images but same connective order
This matters because there are L and D forms of amino acids
- L is more common, D is less common
- enantiomers are not interchangeable, usually one version is used/important and another version is not
Classifications of amino acids
(categories)
what are their characteristics at pH7?
- non-polar, aliphatic (alkyl groups)
- aromatic (ring)
- polar, uncharged
- positively charged (Basic)
- negatively charged (Acidic)
Nonpolar Aliphatic Amino Acid R Groups (acronym?)
- Glycine
- Alanine
- Proline
- Valine
- Leucine
- Isoleucine
- Methionine
Aromatic Amino acids
- Phenylalanine
- Tyrosine
- Tryptophan
Spectroscopic Properties of aromatic amino acids
Absorb in the 280-300 range
Can Id/measure proteins in samples
*Different ones absorb more, but that general range is wehre absorption is seen
Polar, uncharged amino acids
STCAG
- serine
- Threonine
- cysteine
- asparagine
- glutamine
cysteine and reversible disulfide bond formation
Cysteine forms disulfide bonds because has a -Ch2-SH R group
- C - CH2 - S - H
Positively charged amino acids
LAH
- lysine
- arginine
- histidine
Unique Property of Histidine
- Good to have at an active site to both stabilize and destabilize a substrate
- side chain has a pKa of 6.5 –> near a physiological pH
- exists in the protonated and deprotonated form at the same time
- R groups are what make the protein reactive, but it is still only reactive if it is reactive at a physiological pH
Negatively charged amino acids
- aspartate (-CH2 - COO)
- glutamate (- CH2 - CH2 - COO)
Zwitterion form of amino acid
- protonated amino group (NH3+)
- deprotonated carboxyl group (COO-)
*both are protonated at low pH
*both are deprotonated at high pH
Zwitterion formation based on ph
- 0-2: both protonated, NH3+ and COOH
- 2-9: zwitterion, NH3+ and COO-
- 9-14: both deprotonated, NH2 and COO-
Henderson Hasselbeck Equation
Describes the shape of the titration curve of any weak acif or amino acid
Ka = [H+] [A-] / [HA]
–> in terms of H+
–> negative of both sides
–> -log = ph or pKa
pH = pKa - log ([HA]/[A-])
Titration Curve of amino acid
Buffer regions
Equivalence point/PI
pKa
Key Pieces of info from Titration curve
- quant measure of the pKa of each of the two ionizing groups
- buffering regions
- relationship between net charge and pH of solution
PI (Isoelectronic point)
- characteristic pH at which net charge is zero
- equal amounts of + and - charged acid and zwitterions
- can be arithmetic mean of the two pKa values
Peptide Bond Formation Structure? Reaction?
two amino acids can be covalently joined through a substituted amide linkage (peptide bond) to yield dipeptide
loss of a water molecule, dehydration an form multiple –> oligopeptides, polypeptides
Properties of peptide bonds:
- resistant to hydrolysis and kinetically stable (high Ea and reverse Ea makes it unfavorable/difficult to go in reverse)
- planar due to partial double bond character of C-N bond
- contain a hydrogen bond donor (NH) and hydrogen bond acceptor (CO)
- uncharged, allowing proteins to form tightly packed globular structures
Resonance of Peptide bonds
- carbonyl is partially negative
- amide is aprtially positive
trans and cis
In what form are peptide bonds in proteins?
- trans
- steric clashes arise from cis
(proline is exception)
Peptide bonds that are cis
- X-pro
- Proline: nitrogen is bonded to two tetrahedral carbon atoms so steric differences between cis and trans are less significant
- Glycine: R group is just an H so it is very flexible
Single Bonds vs Peptide Bonds
Phi and Psi
- in contrast with the peptide bond, the bonds between the amino group and the a-carbon are purely single
- freedom of rotation about the bonds (torsion angles phi and psi) allows proteins to fold in many dofferent ways
–> many rotational combinations are forbidden because of steric collissions
–> Ramachandran diagram reveals there are only three regions physically accessible
Ramachandran Diagram of Peptide Bonds
What does it reveal?
Defines what is possible to build in the secondary structure
What is the secondary structure of a protein?
regular spatial arrangement
What is regular Spatial Arrangements?
- “local spatial arrangement of the main chain atoms in a selected segment of a polypeptide chain”
Most common secondary structures
- a- helix
- b-strand (b sheets, pleated sheets)
- b-turn (b-bend, reverse turn or hairpin turn)
- o-loop (loop or omega loop)
Characteristics of helices
p = pitch (angle it is at)
n = number of repeating units per turn
(>0 right handed/clockwise, <0 left handed/counterclockwise)
d = helical rise of repeating units per turn (p/n)
Most common rotation of helix
Right handed
Left handed are rare
Interactions between helices (how do helices come together to make super helices?)
- form superhelices
1. helical coiled coils (alpha keratin) - 2 alpha helices wound left handed
2. triple helices (collagen) - three left handed helices wound right handed
Where do superhlieces exist
Fibrous proteins
- protective, connective or supportive material (hair, skin, tendon, bone)
- motility (muscles, cilia)
Disulfide bonds determine curliness of hair