lecture 3

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 What are PROTEINS?
• the most abundant biological macromolecules,
occurring in all cells and all parts of cells
• occur in great variety : thousands of different kinds and
sizes can occur in a single cell
• exhibit enormous diversity of biological function and are
the most important final products of the information
pathways
• the molecular instruments through which genetic
information is expressed
• all proteins are constructed from the same ubiquitous
set of 20 amino acids, covalently linked in characteristic
linear sequences
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Two conventions used to identify the
carbons in an amino acid:

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A zwitterion can act as an acid (proton donor):

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or a base (proton acceptor):

* Substances having this dual nature are amphoteric and are

often called “ampholytes” (from “amphoteric electrolytes”)
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How long are polypeptide chains in proteins?
- ranges from 104 amino acid residues (human
cytochrome) to 27,000 amino acid residues (titin).

• multisubunit - have two or more polypeptides

associated noncovalently
• oligomeric - If at least two polypeptides are
identical
• protomers - the identical units (consisting of one
or more polypeptide chains)
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