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Protein before and after folding Results of protein folding. Protein folding is the physical process by which a protein, after synthesis by a ribosome as a linear chain of amino acids, changes from an unstable random coil into a more ordered three-dimensional structure.
The solubility of proteins is an important biochemical aspect of protein folding as it has been shown to affect the formation of protein aggregates. Contrary to native structures, a misfolded protein will often have outward-facing hydrophobic regions which acts as an attractant to other insoluble proteins.
The energy to fold proteins is supplied by non-covalent interactions between the amino acid side chains of each protein, and by solvent effects. Most proteins spontaneously fold into their most stable three-dimensional conformation, which is usually also their functional conformation, but occasionally proteins mis-fold.
Misfolded proteins can form protein aggregates or amyloid fibrils, get degraded, or refold back to its native structure. In molecular biology, protein aggregation is a phenomenon in which intrinsically-disordered or mis-folded proteins aggregate (i.e., accumulate and clump together) either intra- or extracellularly.
The majority of molecular chaperones do not convey any steric information for protein folding, and instead assist in protein folding by binding to and stabilizing folding intermediates until the polypeptide chain is fully translated. The specific mode of function of chaperones differs based on their target proteins and location.
Endoplasmic-reticulum-associated protein degradation is one of several protein degradation pathways in the ER. Endoplasmic-reticulum-associated protein degradation (ERAD) designates a cellular pathway which targets misfolded proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum for ubiquitination and subsequent degradation by a protein-degrading complex, called the proteasome.
Light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis at the thylakoid membrane. Photosystems are functional and structural units of protein complexes involved in photosynthesis. Together they carry out the primary photochemistry of photosynthesis: the absorption of light and the transfer of energy and electrons.
Electron micrograph of a 2D crystal of the LH1-Reaction center photosynthetic unit. A photosynthetic reaction center is a complex of several proteins, biological pigments, and other co-factors that together execute the primary energy conversion reactions of photosynthesis.