proteins Flashcards
what are amino acids
protein building blocks made of amino and carboxylic acids groups, that form polymer chains
what is the name of the smallest and simplest amino acid
glycine
what is the central carbon in an amino acid bound to
1 amino group, 1 carboxylic acid group, 1 hydrogen and 1 R group
what kind of bond links amino acids
peptide bonds
what are amino acids separated by (to be put into groups)
the structure of their side chains e.g. hydrophobic, hydrophilic and charged
what are nucleotides and what are they made up of
they are the building blocks for DNA and RNA - made up of a sugar, a phosphate group and a base
what is the difference between a DNA nucleotide and an RNA nucleotide
DNA = deoxyribose sugar
RNA = ribose sugar
what do we call coding and no-coding regions of DNA
coding = exons
non-coding = introns
why do all cells not look the same
due to specialisation and differentiation
name 4 structural proteins
keratin, collagen, actin and myosin
name 3 transport proteins
haemoglobin, transferrin and ceruloplasmin
name 3 hormonal proteins
insulin, thyroid stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotrophic hormone
what kind of proteins are regulatory
enzymes
what unit do we use to measure proteins
Daltons (Da)
what is the key difference between a protein and a polypeptide
their size; polypeptides are <5kDa
how many common amino acids are there
20
name the 5 prosthetic groups conjugated proteins may contain
metalloproteins = metal group
glycoproteins = sugar group
phosphoproteins = phosphate group
lipoproteins = lipid group
nucleoproteins = associated with nucleic acid
name the 4 sections of protein structure and give a brief explanation of them
- Primary; an amino acid chain
- Secondary; alpha-helix and beta-pleated sheets - formed via hydrogen bonds (in beta-pleated sheets its between the C=O and N-H)
- Tertiary; 3D conformation - further coiling or bending due to hydrogen bonds, as well as ionic bonds and disulphide bridges
- Quaternary; multi-protein assemblies
what are ampholytes
substances that can either donate or accept an electron
what are enantiomers
the 2 ways of forming an amino acid as there is 2 different ways to arrange in space - mirror copies
what is a chiral carbon
a carbon with 4 different groups attached
all naturally occurring amino acids found in living individuals have which configuration: D (dextro) or L (levo)
Levo
what do we utilise the D/L configuration in amino acids to determine in forensic science
can be applied in precise age determination of human remains using teeth - a younger person will have less Dextro configurated amino acids as they have had less time to variate
name the 3 special amino acids and why they are special
cysteine - contains sulphur (forms disulphide bridges)
glycine - only has hydrogen bonded to it (not chiral)
proline - is cyclic
