What is the difference between secondary and tertiary structure in proteins




















They are a type of covalent interactions. Also, ionic bonds called salt bridges form between positively- and negatively-charged side-chains of amino acids, further stabilizing the tertiary structure. In addition, hydrogen bonds also help in stabilizing the 3D-structure. Figure 3: Protein Structure. Tertiary structure or the globular form of proteins is water-soluble under physiological conditions. This is due to the exposure of hydrophilic, acidic ad basic amino acids to the outside and hiding of the hydrophobic amino acids such as aromatic amino acids and the amino acids with alkyl groups in the core of the protein structure.

This explains the basic difference between primary secondary and tertiary structure of protein. Primary structure of a protein is composed of peptide bonds formed between amino acids, secondary structure of a protein encompasses hydrogen bonds while the tertiary structure of a protein encompasses disulfide bridges, salt bridges, and hydrogen bonds.

This is a main difference between primary secondary and tertiary structure of protein. The primary structure of a protein is formed during translation.

The Secondary structure of proteins forms collagen, elastin , actin, myosin , and keratin-like fibers while the tertiary structure of proteins includes enzymes, hormones, albumin, globulin, and hemoglobin. Their functions is yet another important difference between primary secondary and tertiary structure of protein.

The primary structure of protein is involved in post-translational modifications, secondary structure of proteins is involved in forming structures such as cartilages, ligaments, skin, etc. Primary structure of protein is the amino acid sequence, which is linear. It is produced during translation.

This difunctionality allows the individual amino acids to join in long chains by forming peptide bonds : amide bonds between the -NH 2 of one amino acid and the -COOH of another.

Sequences with fewer than 50 amino acids are generally referred to as peptides, while the terms, protein and polypeptide, are used for longer sequences. A protein can be made up of one or more polypeptide molecules. The end of the peptide or protein sequence with a free carboxyl group is called the carboxy-terminus or C-terminus.

The amino acids differ in structure by the substituent on their side chains. These side chains confer different chemical, physical, and structural properties to the final peptide or protein.

The structures of the 20 amino acids commonly found in proteins are shown in Figure 1. Each amino acid has both a one-letter and three-letter abbreviation. These abbreviations are commonly used to simplify the written sequence of a peptide or protein. Depending on the side-chain substituent, an amino acid can be classified as being acidic, basic or neutral. Although 20 amino acids are required for synthesis of various proteins found in humans, we can synthesize only ten.

The remaining 10 are called essential amino acids and must be obtained in the diet. The amino acid sequence of a protein is encoded in DNA. Proteins are synthesized by a series of steps called transcription the use of a DNA strand to make a complimentary messenger RNA strand — mRNA and translation the mRNA sequence is used as a template to guide the synthesis of the chain of amino acids which make up the protein.

Often, post-translational modifications, such as glycosylation or phosphorylation, occur which are necessary for the biological function of the protein.

Stretches or strands of proteins or peptides have distinct, characteristic local structural conformations, or secondary structure, dependent on hydrogen bonding.

The hydrogen bonds make this structure especially stable. The side-chain substituents of the amino acids fit in beside the N-H groups. The sheet conformation consists of pairs of strands lying side-by-side. The carbonyl oxygens in one strand bonds with the amino hydrogens of the adjacent strand.

The two strands can be either parallel or anti-parallel depending on whether the strand directions N-terminus to C-terminus are the same or opposite.

The overall three-dimensional shape of a protein molecule is the tertiary structure. The protein molecule will bend and twist in such a way as to achieve maximum stability or lowest energy state. Although the three-dimensional shape of a protein may seem irregular and random, it is fashioned by many stabilizing forces due to bonding interactions between the side-chain groups of the amino acids.

Under physiologic conditions, the hydrophobic side-chains of neutral, non-polar amino acids such as phenylalanine or isoleucine tend to be buried on the interior of the protein molecule, thereby shielding them from the aqueous medium. The alkyl groups of alanine, valine, leucine and isoleucine often form hydrophobic interactions between one another, while aromatic groups such as those of phenylalanine and tyrosine often stack together. This pattern is due to the properties of its unique sequence of amino acids primary structure.

As long as the sequence of amino acids is the same, the protein will fold into the same 3-dimensional shape. If a protein does not fold correctly it will not function properly. Therefore, researching a protein's structure is very important when trying to understand what it does and how it works.

When scientists study a protein they must first determine the sequence of amino acids in the protein chain primary structure. They use this sequence to predict the presence of any alpha helices or beta sheets secondary structure. They can then use X-ray crystallography and NMR to determine a protein's full 3-dimensional shape tertiary structure. Knowing the tertiary structure of a protein is often crucial to understanding how it functions and how to target it for drug therapy or other medical uses.



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