Lecture Materials
Unit II: Structure and Function of Biological Molecules
Lecture 3 - Proteins
Proteins are the workhorses of living cells, so this is where we will begin with our survey of the structure and function of biological molecules. Proteins are polymers built from monomers of amino acids. There are twenty common amino acids that are used by all organisms to make proteins, with each displaying a characteristic set of chemical and physical properties. Every protein has a defined sequence of amino acid monomers in its polymer chain, which is referred to as its primary structure. This sequence is determined by the gene that codes for a protein. The interactions of the amino acids with each other and with water determine how a protein will fold into a functional 3-dimensional structure.
- Part I - Draft
- Part II - Draft
- Folding@Home
- FoldIt - A gamers approach to protein folding
- Reading: Moran et al. Chapters 3: Amino Acids and the Primary Structures of Proteins
- Reading: Moran et al. Chapters 4: Proteins: Three-Dimensional Structures and Functions
- Perspectives on Genetics: Antony Stretton, "The First Sequence: Fred Sanger and Insulin", Genetics 2002, 162, 527-532.
- NPR report on unboiling eggs
- Unboiling an egg: Yuan, T. Z., Ormonde, C. F. G., Kudlacek, S. T., Kunche, S., Smith, J. N., Brown, W. A., Pugliese, K. M., Olsen, T. J., Iftikhar, M., Raston, C. L., and Weiss, G. A. (2015) Shear-Stress-Mediated Refolding of Proteins from Aggregates and Inclusion Bodies. ChemBioChem 16, 393–396.
- Problem Assignments for Chapter 3
- Problem Assignments for Chapter 4
- Lecture 3 Supplemental Questions
- Amino Acids: Jmol models of the 20 common amino acids
- Protein Structure - Ubiquitin: Jmol model of a small protein.
- Protein Structure - Ribonuclease A: Jmol model of a small protein containing cis peptide bonds (3a1r).
- Protein Structure - Phosphofructokinase I: Jmol model highlights the different levels of protein structure.
- Protein Structure - Pyruvate Kinase: Jmol model that highlights the differeent domains in this protein. (Use to answer Problem 6 from Chapter 2.)
- Protein Structure - Oxymyogoblin: Jmol model that highlights the ligands involved in oxygen binding to myoglobin (1mbo)
- A flight through an Electrospray Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ESI-TOF-MS)
- Molecular Machinery of Life