5. proteins

What are proteins made from? 

• proteins are polymers
• monomers of proteins are amino acids
• a dipeptide is formed when two amino acids join together
• a polypeptide is formed when 2 or more amino acids joined together

Amino Acid Structure

• all have the same general structure-
  • a carboxyl group (-COOH) 
  • an amine group (-NH2) attached to a carbon atom
  • an R group is what varies the amino acids from each other
    • All amino acids contain carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, some contain sulfur

Dipeptide and Polypeptide Formation

• amino acids are joined together by peptide bonds
• a molecule of water is released in the condensation reaction
• the reverse adds a molecule of water to break a peptide bond (hydrolysis)

Protein Structure 

• proteins are big and complicated molecules
• there are 4 layers to proteins: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary
• these layers are…