{"id":2951,"date":"2026-07-21T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T10:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creation1to11.com\/?p=1609"},"modified":"2026-07-27T20:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T19:06:08","slug":"amino-acids-and-proteins-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/amino-acids-and-proteins-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Amino Acids and Proteins Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"white-space: pre\">In the previous<\/span> post, we started to look at amino acids and proteins, and the way in which proteins are built from a programmed sequence of amino acids, of which 21 different varieties are used. Having said that however, there is far more to the structure of a protein than the actual sequence of amino acids. We need to take into account the huge number of functions that proteins perform, of which some key categories are:-<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Infrastructure - Proteins are essential for providing physical structure to cells and other tissue material.<\/li>\n<li>Enzymes - These catalyse (i.e. assist or speed up) chemical reactions in the body, such the digestion of food.<\/li>\n<li>Defence and Immunity - Antibodies protect against disease by attacking foreign bodies such as viruses.<\/li>\n<li>Hormones - These are responsible for signalling and the co-ordination of various bodily functions.<\/li>\n<li>Storage &amp; Transportation- Proteins are responsible for storing nutrients or for transportation of substances, either around the body or in and out of cells. A well know example is haemoglobin, which carries oxygen through the bloodstream.<\/li>\n<li>Detection and Signalling - Proteins are used to detect various signals (e.g. the presence of hormones or sensory stimuli), passing the required communications to cells.<\/li>\n<li>Motor Energy - Proteins are used in converting nutritional (chemical) energy into physical energy such muscle contraction.<\/li>\n<li>Gene Control - Although all cells contain a full copy of the genetic code, individual genes are turned on of off according to the functional requirements of a given cell. This is a highly complex process, and proteins are essential in the control of such functions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Every individual protein requires its own individual shape in order to correctly perform its particular function. For example, a protein providing infrastructure will need to be configured into chains or sheets. On the other, hand a protein requiring mobility will need to be curled up into a globular structure in order to float and move. Also it will need to fit like a jigsaw piece to something with which it is interacting (e.g. an enzyme connecting to part of a chemical reaction, or an antibody connecting to a specific virus). Four broad levels of configuration are defined:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Primary Structure - This defines the sequence of amino acids that make up the molecular chain of the protein. A working protein will not remain with only a primary structure. Because various parts of an amino acid molecule will attract\/repel other parts of amino acids and will also attract\/repel water, an amino acid chain will automatically bend into a particular configuration. This happens in a repeatable way, completely determined by the raw amino acid sequence.<\/li>\n<li>Secondary Structure - At the next level of configuration, an amino acid chain will configure itself into a helical coil, or amino acid chains will bond together side by side to create what is know as a pleated sheet.<\/li>\n<li>Tertiary Structure - Proteins requiring a more globular structure will then undergo a further level or configuration in which the secondary structure bends and curls in a specific way, to create a fully predictable configuration.<\/li>\n<li>Quarternary Structure - In some cases, tertiary structures will come together in a particular way to create multi-molecular superstructures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The complexity and precision of all of this, is totally amazing and almost beyond simple comprehension, again surely the work of an intelligent designer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the previous post, we started to look at amino acids and proteins, and the way in which proteins are built from a programmed sequence of amino acids, of which 21 different varieties are used. Having said that however, there is far more to the structure of a protein than the actual sequence of amino [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creation"],"acf":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Creation 1 to 11","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.creation1to11.com","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.andperry.com\/andperry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}