Protein structure and function

Proteins are made in the cells of plants, animals and bacteria by a universal mechanism. The DNA of an organism encodes its proteins in a linear sequence of nucleotides of which there are four types: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. This information is copied to an intermediate nucleic acid form (messenger RNA), which is then linearly processed during protein synthesis. Nucleic acid and protein synthesis typify the complexity of the cellular machinery; hundreds of proteins are involved. This section provides an overview of protein structure and its relationship to function.

Subsections

Primary structure
Secondary structure
Tertiary structure
Quaternary structure -- macromolecular assemblies
Soluble, fibrous and membrane proteins
Enzymes
Electron transfer proteins
Proteins in signalling and recognition
Mechanical proteins
Regulation and control of protein function
- Steric effects
- Conformational changes