Protein structure
- A protein may consist of a single polypeptide or more than one polypeptide linked together
- Some proteins exist as a single polypeptide chain (of amino acids)
- Other proteins are made up of two or more polypeptide chains joined together
- Single polypeptide chain proteins include lysozyme, an enzyme present in mucus secretions and tears, that kills bacteria as part of our primary defences against pathogens
- Proteins with two polypeptide chains include
- insulin, a hormone responsible for regulating blood glucose levels
- integrins, a group of membrane proteins that span a phospholipid bilayer and act as a receptor
- integrins' two polypeptide chains each have a hydrophobic section that sits in the membrane bilayer
- Proteins with three polypeptide chains include collagen, the main structural protein in skin, tendons, ligaments and the walls of blood vessels
- Proteins with four polypeptide chains include haemoglobin, which binds oxygen in red blood cells and delivers it from the lungs to respiring tissues
- Each polypeptide chain in a multi-polypeptide protein is referred to as a subunit of the protein