Proteins

The basic matter that compose living creatures are proteins. They determine shape, physical, chemical and even behavioral features of cells and organisms. Proteins perform structural, transporting, storing, regulating functions. They are hormones (information transmitters), antibodies, enzymes (they catalyze - enable and quicken - chemical reactions that take place in organism).

Proteins are complicated particles built from amino acids. Twenty possible amino acids in a linear order form a polypeptide. Protein is one or more polypeptides that have a particular spatial structure. The way in which a polypeptide will be winded up has a great meaning and is determined by order of amino acids. Changing that order can lead to rise of biologically inactive protein.


polypeptide
Arg, Cys, Lys etc are abbreviations for names of amino acids

For names, abbrevations, linear formulas, and 3d pictures of all amino acids try this link: http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/chemistry/bio/amino-acids_en.html

Information about cell structure and function is kept in deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA).

DNA stores the information about among other structure of proteins. DNA code translates linear sequence of four elements (four possible bases in DNA) into linear sequence of twenty elements (amino acids in a protein).

 

 

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