Question

1) For each change made to a protein solution, how might it affect the interactions that are involved in a protein's shape?

2) What is the difference between precipitation of a protein and its denaturation? How might you tell the difference?

Answer 1

Ans .(1) The folding of protein into specific shapes and conformations are assisted and stabilized by many types of bonds in them. The important types of bonds involved in protein structure and conformation are peptide bonds, ionic bonds, disulfide bonds, hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions.

If the protein is subject to changes in temperature, pH, or exposure to chemicals , the internal interactions between the protein's amino acids can be altered, which in turn may alter the shape of the protein.

Ans .(2) Precipitation of Protein :- It is the process in which the protein is separated from any extra contaminants that may be mixed with it. It is an important part of downstream processing and can be done with a variety of different techniques.

Denaturation of Protein :- It is a process in which proteins lose the quaternery structure , tertiary structure, and secondary structure which is present in their native state. The factors which cause denaturation of proteins are temperature, pH, salinity etc.