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Aside from water, proteins are the most abundant kind of molecules in the body. Protein can be found in all cells of the body and is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially muscle. This also includes body organs, hair and skin. Proteins are also used in membranes, such as glycoproteins.
At the top level are all alpha proteins (domains consisting of alpha helices), all beta proteins (domains consisting of beta sheets), and mixed alpha helix/beta sheet proteins. While most proteins adopt a single stable fold, a few proteins can rapidly interconvert between one or more folds. These are referred to as metamorphic proteins. [5]
The main elements that comprise the human body (including water) can be summarized as CHNOPS. Element Symbol percent mass percent atoms Oxygen O 65.0 24.0 Carbon C 18.5 12.0 Hydrogen H 9.5 62.0 Nitrogen N 2.6 1.1 Calcium Ca 1.3 0.22 Phosphorus P 0.6 0.22 Sulfur S 0.3 0.038 Potassium K 0.2 0.03 Sodium Na 0.2 0.037 Chlorine Cl 0.2 0.024 Magnesium Mg
The Young's modulus of a single protein can be found through molecular dynamics simulation. Using either atomistic force-fields, such as CHARMM or GROMOS, or coarse-grained forcefields like Martini, [121] a single protein molecule can be stretched by a uniaxial force while the resulting extension is recorded in order to calculate the strain.
Plasma proteins, sometimes referred to as blood proteins, are proteins present in blood plasma. They serve many different functions, including transport of lipids, hormones, vitamins and minerals in activity and functioning of the immune system. Other blood proteins act as enzymes, complement components, protease inhibitors or kinin precursors.
They can also be converted into glucose. [4] This glucose can then be converted to triglycerides and stored in fat cells. [5] Proteins can be broken down by enzymes known as peptidases or can break down as a result of denaturation. Proteins can denature in environmental conditions the protein is not made for. [6]
Protein structures range in size from tens to several thousand amino acids. [2] By physical size, proteins are classified as nanoparticles, between 1–100 nm. Very large protein complexes can be formed from protein subunits. For example, many thousands of actin molecules assemble into a microfilament.
The glycosylation of proteins has an array of different applications from influencing cell to cell communication to changing the thermal stability and the folding of proteins. [ 4 ] [ 19 ] Due to the unique abilities of glycoproteins, they can be used in many therapies. [ 19 ]