MinuteEarth

To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Amino acids: are organic compounds that contain amino (–NH2) and carboxyl (–COOH) functional groups, along with a side chain specific to each amino acid. Proteins: are macromolecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Most proteins fold into unique 3D structures. The shape into which a protein naturally folds is known as its native conformation. Alpha helix (α-helix): is a common motif in the secondary structure of proteins and is a right hand-helix conformation in which every backbone N−H group hydrogen bonds to the backbone C=O group of the amino acid located four residues earlier along the protein sequence. Beta sheet (β-sheet): is a common motif of the regular protein secondary structure and consists of beta strands (β-strands) connected laterally by at least two or three backbone hydrogen bonds, forming a generally twisted, pleated sheet. Ribbon diagrams: are 3D schematic representations of p