Protein structure

From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery

Revision as of 08:33, 18 August 2008

A number of residues are necessary to perform a particular biochemical function, and around 40-50 residues appears to be the lower limit for a functional domain size. Protein sizes range from this lower limit to several thousand residues in multi-functional or structural proteins. However, the current estimate for the average protein length is around 300 residues.Very large aggregates can be formed from protein subunits, for example many thousand actin molecules assemble into a collagen filament.

A number of residues are necessary to perform a particular biochemical function, and around 40-50 residues appears to be the lower limit for a functional domain size. Protein sizes range from this lower limit to several thousand residues in multi-functional or structural proteins. However, the current estimate for the average protein length is around 300 residues.Template:Fact Very large aggregates can be formed from protein subunits, for example many thousand actin molecules assemble into a collagen filament.

Levels of protein structure

• Primary structure - the amino acid sequence of the peptide chains.
• Secondary structure - highly regular sub-structures (alpha helix and strands of beta sheet) which are locally defined, meaning that there can be many different secondary motifs present in one single protein molecule.
• Tertiary structure - three-dimensional structure of a single protein molecule; a spatial arrangement of the secondary structures. It also describes the completely folded and compacted polypeptide chain.
• Quaternary structure - complex of several protein molecules or polypeptide chains, usually called protein subunits in this context, which function as part of the larger assembly or protein complex.

In addition to these levels of structure, a protein may shift between several similar structures in performing its biological function. In the context of these functional rearrangements, these tertiary or quaternary structures are usually referred to as chemical conformation, and transitions between them are called conformational changes.

The primary structure is held together by covalent or peptide bonds, which are made during the process of protein biosynthesis or translation. These peptide bonds provide rigidity to the protein. The two ends of the amino acid chain are referred to as the C-terminal end or carboxyl terminus (C-terminus) and the N-terminal end or amino terminus (N-terminus) based on the nature of the free group on each extremity.

The various types of secondary structure are defined by their patterns of hydrogen bonds between the main-chain peptide groups. However, these hydrogen bonds are generally not stable by themselves, since the water-amide hydrogen bond is generally more favorable than the amide-amide hydrogen bond. Thus, secondary structure is stable only when the local concentration of water is sufficiently low, e.g., in the molten globule or fully folded states.

Similarly, the formation of molten globules and tertiary structure is driven mainly by structurally non-specific interactions, such as the rough propensities of the amino acids and hydrophobic interactions. However, the tertiary structure is fixed only when the parts of a protein domain are locked into place by structurally specific interactions, such as ionic interactions (salt bridges), hydrogen bonds and the tight packing of side chains. The tertiary structure of extracellular proteins can also be stabilized by disulfide bonds, which reduce the entropy of the unfolded state; disulfide bonds are extremely rare in cytosolic proteins, since the cytosol is generally a reducing environment.

Structure of the amino acids

An α-amino acid consists of a part that is present in all the amino acid types, and a side chain that is unique to each type of residue. The C_α atom is bound to 4 different molecules (the H is omitted in the diagram); an amino group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen and a side chain, specific for this type of amino acid. An exception from this rule is proline, where the hydrogen atom is replaced by a bond to the side chain. Because the carbon atom is bound to four different groups it is chiral, however only one of the isomers occur in biological proteins. Glycine however, is not chiral since its side chain is a hydrogen atom. A simple mnemonic for correct L-form is "CORN": when the C_α atom is viewed with the H in front, the residues read "CO-R-N" in a clockwise direction.

The side chain determines the chemical properties of the α-amino acid and may be any one of the 20 different side chains: