Lecture 8 - Protein Structure from primary to quaternary Flashcards
what is the primary structure of a protein?
-amino acid sequence in a polypeptide chain
what is the secondary structure of a protein?
-helix
what is the tertiary structure of a protein?
- one complete protein chain
- beta chain of hemoglobin
what is the quaternary structure of a protein?
-the four separate chains of hemoglobin assembled into a oligomeric protein
what is the second level of protein structure dictated by?
hydrogen bonds between nearby residues
what are protein folds made up of?
secondary structural motifs interrupted by loops
how can secondary motifs be identified?
from backbone torsion angle distributions
What do backbone torsion angles describe?
-the twisting of the protein peptide backbone
Why is the — angle almost always 180?
peptide bond has special resonance structure
What does a Ramachandran plot show?
(..,..) angle distribution in a protein
what are alpha helices?
right-handed coils
how many residues per turn in an alpha helix?
average 3.6 residues per turn
What is the average alpha helix lenght?
12 residues, ~3 turns
are beta sheets parallel or antiparallel?
- can be both
- anti parallel sheets occur more frequently
What is a quality of an antiparallel sheet?
-pleated with repeated distance averaging 7.0
What do helices and sheets form?
-a continuum
which amino acids favor alpha helices?
ala cys leu met glu gln his lys
which amino acids favor beta sheets?
val ile phe tyr trp thr
which amino acids favor turns?
gly ser asp asn pro
What is the difference between fibrous and globular proteins?
globular proteins: compact + tightly folded
fibrous proteins: elongated, dominated by helices
what do fibrous proteins serve mostly as?
structural elements
what is alpha keratin?
coiled coil
what is keratin?
-principal component of hair, horn, nail + feathers in birds/animals
what is keratincomposed of?
-long alpha helix
what do two keratins form?
- hydrophobic interactions to form a coiled coil
- keratin dimer coiled coil