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An alpha helix (or α-helix) is a sequence of amino acids in a protein that are twisted into a coil (a helix). The alpha helix is the most common structural arrangement in the secondary structure of proteins. It is also the most extreme type of local structure, and it is the local structure that is most easily predicted from a sequence of amino ...
In aqueous solution at pH close to neutrality, amino acids exist as zwitterions, i.e. as dipolar ions with both NH + 3 and CO − 2 in charged states, so the overall structure is NH + 3 −CHR−CO − 2. At physiological pH the so-called "neutral forms" −NH 2 −CHR−CO 2 H are not present to any measurable degree. [36]
The amino acids in a polypeptide chain are linked by peptide bonds between amino and carboxyl group. An individual amino acid in a chain is called a residue, and the linked series of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms are known as the main chain or protein backbone.
A single amino acid monomer may also be called a residue, which indicates a repeating unit of a polymer. Proteins form by amino acids undergoing condensation reactions, in which the amino acids lose one water molecule per reaction in order to attach to one another with a peptide bond.
Protein sequence is typically notated as a string of letters, listing the amino acids starting at the amino-terminal end through to the carboxyl-terminal end. Either a three letter code or single letter code can be used to represent the 22 naturally encoded amino acids, as well as mixtures or ambiguous amino acids (similar to nucleic acid ...
The portion of the membrane proteins that are attached to the lipid bilayer (see annular lipid shell) consist mostly of hydrophobic amino acids. [13] Membrane proteins which have hydrophobic surfaces, are relatively flexible and are expressed at relatively low levels. This creates difficulties in obtaining enough protein and then growing crystals.
The amino acids in a 3 10-helix are arranged in a right-handed helical structure. Each amino acid corresponds to a 120° turn in the helix (i.e., the helix has three residues per turn), and a translation of 2.0 Å (0.20 nm) along the helical axis, and has 10 atoms in the ring formed by making the hydrogen bond.
The primary structure of a biopolymer is the exact specification of its atomic composition and the chemical bonds connecting those atoms (including stereochemistry).For a typical unbranched, un-crosslinked biopolymer (such as a molecule of a typical intracellular protein, or of DNA or RNA), the primary structure is equivalent to specifying the sequence of its monomeric subunits, such as amino ...