AskEssays.com - Discover essay samples

Protein Synthesis

4.9 of 5.0 (150 reviews)

Contains
424 words
Category
Science

Protein Synthesis Page 1
Protein Synthesis Page 2
The above thumbnails are of reduced quality. To view the work in full quality, click download.

Protein Synthesis


Protein synthesis is one of the most fundamental biological processes. To start off, a protein is made in a ribosome. There are many cellular mechanisms involved with protein synthesis. Before the process of protein synthesis can be described, a person must know what proteins are made out of. There are four basic levels of protein organization. The first is primary structure, followed by secondary structure, then tertiary structure, and the last level is quaternary structure. Once someone understands the makeup of a protein, they can then begin to learn how elements can combine and go from genes to protein. There are two main processes that occur during protein synthesis, or peptide formation. One is transcription and the other is translation. Although these biological processes slightly differ for eukaryotes and prokaryotes, they are the basic mechanisms for which proteins are formed in all living organisms.

There are four main levels of a protein, which make up its native conformation. The first level, primary structure, is just the basic order of all the amino acids. The amino acids are held together by strong peptide bonds. The next level of protein organization is the secondary structure. This is where the primary structure is repeated folded so that it takes up less space. There are two types of folding, the first of which is beta-pleated sheets, where the primary structure would resemble continuous spikes forming a horizontal strip. The second type of folding is an alpha helix, which goes vertically forming a wavy line. An alpha helix is in the same shape of one strand of DNA. These new formations are held together by hydrogen bonds. The third level is the tertiary structure. The tertiary structure of a protein is a contorted secondary structure being twisted and folded all out of shape to form a 3-d complex. The type of bonding that holds these formations together are weak interactions such as hydrophilic, hydrophobic, ionic, and hydrogen bonds. These bonds are individually weak, but collectively strong. The forth level, which completes a protein, is quaternary structure, which occurs when two or more tertiary structures are joined together by polypeptide bonds.

The formation of a protein begins in the genes, which contain the basic building information for all parts of living organisms. There are four DNA nucleotides that make up genes: A, T, C, and G. A codon is any arrangement of three of these nucleotides. Each triplet of nucleotides codes for one amino acid. First transcription will begin in the ...

You are currently seeing 50% of this paper.

You're seeing 424 words of 848.

Keywords: protein synthesis steps, protein synthesis diagram, protein synthesis worksheet, protein synthesis definition, protein synthesis occurs in, protein synthesis takes place in, protein synthesis inhibitors, protein synthesis translation

Similar essays


How dams affect salmon migration

The 1,000 plus species of Salmon and Steelhead that live off the western coast of the United States and breed in the rivers and tributaries of California, Washington, and Oregon have greatly fallen in population. 106 species have become extinct and 314 more are at risk of extinction in the Columbia River Basin, the focus of this report. The c...

76 reviews
Download
How Cells Harvest Chemical Energy

Respiration: 1. A cell must work just to maintain its complex structure, for order is intrinsically unstable. Because of entropy (the second law of thermodynamics), which states that any enclosed system tends toward disorganization, cells must constantly use energy to keep themselves in order. If the cell was to stop using en...

193 reviews
Download
Computers Invention of the Century

Computers - Invention of the Century Computers: Invention of the Century The History of Computers Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such devices changed the way we manage, work, and live. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in...

70 reviews
Download
Luggerhead turtle

Luggerhead Turtle I'am writing this paper on the Luggerhead Turtle. The goes through a lot in its lifetime. In this report on the turtle you will learn about what dangers it goes through, so read on. The Luggerhead is born underground in sand near the shore and takes about thirty-six hours to dig itself out of the nest. When it...

98 reviews
Download
Technology The End of Mankind

Technology: The End of Mankind TECHNOLOGY The human race is slowly, but surely, contributing to its own demise. This sub-conscious suicide is being carried out in more than one way, but the most apparent one is technology. Technology is advancing at a pace so rapid that it will eventually lead to the self-extinction of the human...

146 reviews
Download
Atsisiųsti šį darbą