Describe how a protein molecule is organised into a specific 3 -D shape and how the shape of the protein can facilitate the recognition and binding of specific molecules.
Describe how a protein molecule is organised into a specific 3 –D shape and how the shape of the protein can facilitate the recognition and binding of specific molecules.
Proteins are very large 3 dimensional macromolecules. They are very important as structural molecules in the cell, as energy sources, and most importantly as "enzymes"; Proteins are often called "polypeptides" because they are made of long chains of building blocks called "amino acids". As the protein molecules are constructed from varying combination of twenty types of amino acids, they variety of protein structure is never-ending. Protein is made up of its own sequence and number of amino acids, which is unique and is structured to perform a particular function. The unique shape of each and every protein determines the specific function of that protein. Proteins function by recognizing and binding to other molecules. There are four levels of protein structure- primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure.
