26.2 Amino Acids and Proteins
26.2 Amino Acids and Proteins
Lesson Objectives
- Describe the general structure of an amino acid.
- List the twenty common amino acids found in living organisms.
- Describe how a peptide bond forms.
- Define a protein and differentiate between the four levels of structure of a protein.
- Describe the effect of an enzyme on a biochemical reaction and the general features of its reaction with a
substrate.
Lesson Vocabulary
- amino acid
- enzyme
- peptide
- peptide bond
- polypeptide
- primary structure
- protein
- quaternary structure
- secondary structure
- tertiary structure
Check Your Understanding
Recalling Prior Knowledge
- What is the structure of the carboxyl functional group?
- What is the structure of the amino functional group?
Foods such as meat and fish are high in protein. Proteins are an essential class of biomolecules that actually make
up more than half of the dry weight of your body. In this lesson, you will learn about small molecules called amino
acids and how they link together to form larger protein molecules.
Amino Acids
Anamino acidis a compound that contains both an amino group (−NH 2 ) and a carboxyl group (−COOH) in the
same molecule. While an infinite number of amino acids can be imagined, the term most commonly applies to a