Question
Question: What are the primary, secondary, and tertiary sets of proteins?...
What are the primary, secondary, and tertiary sets of proteins?
Solution
Proteins have many important roles in performing various metabolic activities in our body. They are heteropolymers made up of several amino acids. Based on the arrangement of amino acids in a protein chain and their structure in a three-dimensional view, we can classify protein structure
into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary.
Complete answer: Proteins are part of structural components of many physiologically important
factors in our bodies. They are present in enzymes, hormones, membrane channels, receptors, etc.
-The structure of proteins in the primary structure is a straight chain which is made up of amino acids one by one. The left-most amino acid is the first amino acid and the right end is represented by the last amino acid. They are called N terminal and C terminal amino acids respectively.
-In the secondary structure, the straight thread is coiled into the shape of a helix, which can be compared with a revolving staircase. Only some portion of the long thread will be arranged like this. Only right-handed helix are formed in proteins.
-In tertiary structure, the long chain of protein is folded into the shape of a hollow woolen ball. Now, imagine the shape of a three-dimensional view. This structure is needed for several biological functions performed by the proteins. Some proteins contain more than one subunit. Their respective arrangements with each other give the quaternary structure of proteins. For example, spheres may be arranged linearly, or one above the other, etc.
Note: The bond formed between two amino acids in a protein is called peptide bond. When two
amino acids combine by a peptide bond, the structure is called dipeptide. A polypeptide is formed when many amino acids are combined together with the help of several peptide bonds as a chain.