5/6/2017 ProteinWikipedia

Protein
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Proteins(/protinz/or/proti.nz/)arelargebiomolecules,or
macromolecules,consistingofoneormorelongchainsofaminoacidresidues.
Proteinsperformavastarrayoffunctionswithinorganisms,includingcatalysing
metabolicreactions,DNAreplication,respondingtostimuli,andtransporting
moleculesfromonelocationtoanother.Proteinsdifferfromoneanother
primarilyintheirsequenceofaminoacids,whichisdictatedbythenucleotide
sequenceoftheirgenes,andwhichusuallyresultsinproteinfoldingintoaspecific
threedimensionalstructurethatdeterminesitsactivity.

Alinearchainofaminoacidresiduesiscalledapolypeptide.Aproteincontains
atleastonelongpolypeptide.Shortpolypeptides,containinglessthan2030
residues,arerarelyconsideredtobeproteinsandarecommonlycalledpeptides,
orsometimesoligopeptides.Theindividualaminoacidresiduesarebonded
togetherbypeptidebondsandadjacentaminoacidresidues.Thesequenceof Arepresentationofthe3Dstructure
aminoacidresiduesinaproteinisdefinedbythesequenceofagene,whichis oftheproteinmyoglobinshowing
encodedinthegeneticcode.Ingeneral,thegeneticcodespecifies20standard turquoisehelices.Thisproteinwas
aminoacidshowever,incertainorganismsthegeneticcodecaninclude thefirsttohaveitsstructuresolved
selenocysteineandincertainarchaeapyrrolysine.Shortlyafteroreven byXraycrystallography.Towards
duringsynthesis,theresiduesinaproteinareoftenchemicallymodifiedbypost therightcenteramongthecoils,a
translationalmodification,whichaltersthephysicalandchemicalproperties, prostheticgroupcalledahemegroup
folding,stability,activity,andultimately,thefunctionoftheproteins.Sometimes (showningray)withaboundoxygen
proteinshavenonpeptidegroupsattached,whichcanbecalledprosthetic molecule(red).
groupsorcofactors.Proteinscanalsoworktogethertoachieveaparticular
function,andtheyoftenassociatetoformstableproteincomplexes.

Onceformed,proteinsonlyexistforacertainperiodoftimeandarethendegradedandrecycledbythecell'smachinery
throughtheprocessofproteinturnover.Aprotein'slifespanismeasuredintermsofitshalflifeandcoversawiderange.
Theycanexistforminutesoryearswithanaveragelifespanof12daysinmammaliancells.Abnormalandormisfolded
proteinsaredegradedmorerapidlyeitherduetobeingtargetedfordestructionorduetobeingunstable.

Likeotherbiologicalmacromoleculessuchaspolysaccharidesandnucleicacids,proteinsareessentialpartsoforganisms
andparticipateinvirtuallyeveryprocesswithincells.Manyproteinsareenzymesthatcatalysebiochemicalreactionsand
arevitaltometabolism.Proteinsalsohavestructuralormechanicalfunctions,suchasactinandmyosininmuscleandthe
proteinsinthecytoskeleton,whichformasystemofscaffoldingthatmaintainscellshape.Otherproteinsareimportantin
cellsignaling,immuneresponses,celladhesion,andthecellcycle.Inanimals,proteinsareneededinthediettoprovidethe
essentialaminoacidsthatcannotbesynthesized.Digestionbreakstheproteinsdownforuseinthemetabolism.

Proteinsmaybepurifiedfromothercellularcomponentsusingavarietyoftechniquessuchasultracentrifugation,
precipitation,electrophoresis,andchromatographytheadventofgeneticengineeringhasmadepossibleanumberof
methodstofacilitatepurification.Methodscommonlyusedtostudyproteinstructureandfunctioninclude
immunohistochemistry,sitedirectedmutagenesis,Xraycrystallography,nuclearmagneticresonanceandmass
spectrometry.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein 1/17