Amino acids and proteins

Mahpara Gondal
Department of Pharmacy
 OBJECTIVES
 To know what are proteins and their biomedical
importance
 To learn what are amino acids?
 To Learn basic structure of amino acid.
 Classification amino acids.
 BRIEF HISTORY
In 1839 Dutch chemist GJ Mulder while investigating
substances such as those found in milk, egg found that
they could be coagulated on heating and were
nitrogenous compounds. Swedish scientist JJ Berzeliu
suggested to Mulder that these substances should be
called proteins. The term is derived from Greek word
Proteios means “primary”, or “holding first place” Of
“pre-eminent” because Berzelius thought them to be most
important of biological substances. And now we know
that proteins are fundamental structural components of
the body. They are nitrogenous “macromolecules”
composed of many amino acids.
 BIOMEDICAL IMPORTANCE OF PROTEINS
Proteins are the main structural components of the
cytoskeleton. They are the sole source to replace Nitrogen of
the body.
 Biochemical catalysts known as enzymes are proteins.
 Proteins known as immunoglobulins serve as the first
line of defence against bacterial and viral infections.
 Several hormones are protein in nature.
 Structural proteins furnish mechanical support and some
of them like actin and myosin are contractile proteins and
help in the movement of muscle fibre, microvilli, etc.
 Some proteins present in cell membrane, cytoplasm and
nucleus of the cell act as receptors.
 Cont…
 The transport proteins carry out the function of
transporting specific substances either across the
membrane or in the body fluids.
 Storage proteins bind with specific substances
and store them, e.g. iron is stored as ferritin.
 Under certain conditions proteins can be
catabolised to supply energy.
 COMPOSITION OF
PROTEINS
In addition to C, H, and O which are present in
carbohydrates and lipids, proteins also contain N.
The nitrogen content is around 16 per cent of the
molecular weight of proteins. Small amounts of S
and P are also present. Few proteins contain other
elements such as I, Cu, Mn, Zn and Fe, etc.
 Amino Acids
Protein molecules are very large molecules with a
high molecular weight ranging from 5000 to
25,00,000. Protein can be broken down into smaller
units by hydrolysis. These small units the
monomers of proteins are called as amino acids.
Proteins are made up from, 20 such standard amino
acids in different sequences and numbers.
 Structure
 R is called a side chain and can
be a hydrogen, aliphatic,
aromatic or heterocyclic group.
 Each amino acid has an
amino group –NH2, a
carboxylic acid group –
COOH and a hydrogen atom
each attached to carbon
located next to the – COOH
group.
 Thus the side chain varies
from one amino acid to the
other.
 Classification
Amino acids can be classified into 3 groups
depending on their reaction in solution.

 A. Neutral
 B. Acidic and
 C. Basic.
 Cont…
A. Neutral amino acids: This is the largest group of
amino acids and can be further subdivided into
aliphatic, aromatic heterocyclic and S-containing amino
acids.
(a) Aliphatic Amino Acids:
1. Glycine (Gly) or α-amino acetic acid.
 Cont…
2. Alanine (Ala) or α-amino propionic acid.

3. Valine (Val) or α-amino-isovaleric acid.

 Cont…
4. Leucine (Leu) or α-amino-isocaproic acid.

5. Isoleucine (Ile) or α-amino-β-methyl valeric

acid
 Cont…
All of the previous are simple monoamino monocarboxylic
acids. The next from the neutral group of amino acids are
hydroxy amino acids. Since they contain – OH group in their
side chains.
6. Serine (Ser) or α-amino-β-hydroxy propionic acid.
 Cont…
7. Threonine (Thr) or α-amino-β-hydroxybutyric acid.

(b) Aromatic Amino Acids

Second subgroup of neutral amino acids consists of aromatic
amino acids.
8. Phenylalanine (Phe) or α-amino-β-phenyl
propionic acid
 Cont…
9. Tyrosine (Tyr) or parahydroxy phenylalanine or α-amino-β-parahydroxy
phenylpropionic acid.

(c) Heterocyclic Amino Acids: Third group belongs to heterocyclic amino

acids.
10. Tryptophan (Trp) or α-amino-β-3-indole propionic acid. This amino acid
is often considered as aromatic amino acid since it has aromatic ring in its
structure.
 Cont…
11. Histidine (His) or α-amino-β-imidazole propionic

d) ‘S’ containing amino acids: The fourth subgroup of neutral

amino acids contains two sulphur containing amino acids.
12. Cysteine (Cys) or α-amino-β-mercaptopropionic acid.
 Cont…
Two molecules of cysteine make cystine (cys-cys) or dithio β, β-
α aminopropionic acid. The S–S linkage is called as disulphide
bridge.

13. Methionine (Met) or α-amino γ-methylthio-η-butyric acid

 Cont…
B. Acidic amino acids: These amino acids have two –COOH groups and
one – NH2 group. They are therefore monoaminodicarboxylic acids.
14. Aspartic acid (Asp) or α-amino succinic acid.

Asparagine (Asn) or γ -amide of α-aminosuccinic acid.

 Cont…
15. Glutamic Acid (Glu) or α-aminoglutaric acid.

Glutamine (Gln)-Amide of Glutamic Acid or δ-amide of α-

aminoglutaric acid.
 Cont…
C. Basic amino acids: This class of amino acids consists of those amino
acids which have one – COOH group and two –NH2 groups. Thus they are
diamino monocarboxylic acids. Arginine, lysine and hydroxylysine are
included in this group.

16. Arginine (Arg) or α-amino- δ-guanidino-n-valeric acid.

 Cont…
17. Lysine (Lys) or α- ε-diamino caproic acid.

18. Hydroxylysine (Hyl) or α-ε-diamino-δ-hydroxy-

nvaleric acid.
 Any
Question