In: Biology
Discuss the shape of a protein and how this dictates function.
Question
The structure of the protein consist of four levels. These are: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary. The primary structure is the linear sequence of amino acid. The secondary structure consist of alpha helix and beta sheet. The tertiary structure consist of folding of alpha helix and beta sheet in 3 dimension to produce the 3D structure of protein with the help of bonds like hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interaction, ionic bond, Vander wall interaction. The Quaternary structure of protein consist of more than one polypetide chains which are connected with various interactions like hydrophobic interaction , vander wall interaction and hydrogen bonding.
Figure: The four levels of protein structure
The function of the protein is dependent on the structure of the protein. If the structure of protein get mutated due to any reason it lead to the loss of the function of the protein. Therefore, in protein structure and function are interrelated.