you are here: > UCA > 12. Life
 
12.7
Level 1 Life- Simple Polymers- Amino Acids
 
  All proteins are made up from Amino Acids. Amino Acids ( like polysaccharides) are polymers. All Amino Acids are combinations of an amino lever ( as shown in Chapter 8) and a chemical "tag".  
  The "tag" components of Amino Acids themselves are made up of simpler molecular combinations. 20 different Amino Acids make up the proteins of all living things.  
  The 20 Amino Acids from which all body proteins are constructed are:  
 
   
alanine - ala - A
arginine - arg - R
asparagine - asn - N
aspartic acid - asp - D
cysteine - cys - C
glutamine - gln - Q
glutamic acid - glu - E
glycine - gly - G
histidine - his - H
isoleucine - ile - I
leucine - leu - L
lysine - lys - K
methionine - met - M
phenylalanine- phe
proline - pro - P
serine - ser - S
threonine - thr - T
tryptophan - trp - W
tyrosine - tyr - Y
valine - val - V
 
  Of the 20 amino acids, 12 can be synthesized in the human body from other food materials. The remaining 8 cannot be formed in the human body and must be provided in the diet. For this reason they're known as the essential amino acids.  
  Of the structural proteins of the body, the most important is collagen. This is a family of fibrous proteins that form into bundles with high tensile strength. That is, they are capable of withstanding high stresses without breaking. Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals and makes up about 25% of body weight.  
  Each of the large number of different proteins is formed by stringing these amino acids together in a particular, specific order. A choice of two amino acids from 20 gives 400 permutations. A string of 10 from 20 can be arranged in 100,000,000,000,000 different ways.  
 
<<Back       Continue>>
 

Copyright © 2010 UCADIA. All rights reserved.