Protein Structure Flashcards
Protein Kinase Cascade
Begins with a growth factor like a hormone, binds to receptor protein, which changes its conformation (new chemical interaction) causes receptor to autophosphoylate.
Then activation cascade in cytosol of cell, eventually final.
Signal in cascade goes into nucleus and turns in transcription and translation
Cancer
Approximately 9,000 people/year Many cancers have an abnormal form of the protein Ras It is permanently bound to GTP Continuous cell division Inhibiting Ras stops cell division
Representations of ras structure
Ca backbone trace, ball and stick, ribbon model, solvent-accessible surface(shows regions of reactivity and polarity
Protein structure
Made up of amino acids
Peptide bonds join amino acids
Protein conformation Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary
Amino Acids
• Amino acids (aa) are the monomeric building blocks of proteins
There are 20 different aa. (22 if you consider selenocysteine and pyrrolysine)
All organisms on earth havethe same 20 aa.
Each protein being synthesized is made from the different arrangements of the aa.
Amino acid structure
Net charge is zero (zwitterion)
Four things attatched to carbon- H, R, carboxyl group and amide group
Stereoisomers are formed
Peptide bond formed between carboxyl and amino groups
Amino Acids react differently with water
Amino acids are also broken down into groups of those with side-chains that are:
polar
non-polar
acidic or basic
R group determines hydrophillicity
Hydrophilic amino acids
Hydrophilic amino acids dissolve easily in water. Acidic aa readily donate a proton and basic aa take up a proton
Often find histidine in the active site
Hydrophilic basic AA
Side chain has a positive charge after accepting a H+ under physiological condition
Polar AA
Under physiologic conditions polar amino acids are uncharged, but are able to form H bonds
Side chains tend to have partial (+)or (-) charge able to form H-bonds with other amino acids and associate with water.
Sulfur in cysteine links proteins together
Asparagnine and glutamine good acceptors/donors of H, cannot be phosphorylated
Non polar amino acids
These side chains often point to the inside of the protein where they form hydrophobic associations with each other, notice the methyl groups
Methionine important for protein synthesis- sulfur in R group
Phenylalanine and tryptophan- aromatic
Interesting Amino Acids
Cysteine- forms covalent disulfide bonds, Rarely see disulfide bridges in the cell because the cytosol is a reducing environment
Glycine- smallest r group, see it in stems and loops of proteins, not a stereocenter
Proline- cyclic, forms bends or kinks, disrupts structure
Polypeptides
- Polypeptides are linear polymers of amino acids.
- Peptides usually contain less than about 20-30amino acids.
- Proteins usually contain 100 or more aa
How are polypeptide bonds formed?
Electrons shared between carbonyl group and peptide (carboxyl and amino group)
structure of peptide unit
The peptide unit is planar because the carbon-nitrogen bond has partial double-bond character due to resonance. Electrons being shared are in the sp2 orbital
R-groups protrude away from the amide plane of the peptide bond- proteins can’t simply fold, need some space in between
Levels of structure in proteins
Primary- order of amino acids
Secondary- alpha helices, beta pleated sheets, random coils, turns
Tertiary- Sum of all the secondary structures, stable 3D structure. Domains and motifs
Quaternary- number of polypeptides, multiple proteins brought together, acting as subunits of multiple proteins
Structure and function
- The 3D shape of protein is determined by its amino acid sequence
- The unlimited 3D shapes (conformation) that proteins can assume allows them to perform a wide range of functions.
- Proteins also have directionality- functionality and reactivity
Functions: regulation, structure, movement, catalysis, transport, signaling
Primary structure
Sequence of amino acids, determined by sequence of nucleotides, play a primary role in determining all other levels of structure.
Side chains on amino acids effect folding of the polypeptide into stable secondary structures
Interactions between the amino acid side chains play a major role in determining the stability of the tertiary structure.
In general, the lowest energy state is attained byfolding hydrophobic aa inside the protein and hydrophilic aa outside
How is primary structure determined?
Sense strand- coding or non template
Antisense strand- non coding or template -> RNA -> proteins. Message AA in triplets to code for proteins (codons)
DNA has to be denatured so that there are single base pairs available
Methionine is the start codon, but is cleaved during/after translation
Genetic code degeneracy
multiple codons for amino acids. Wobble base pairs