Explain the “folding funnel” diagram
It shows that as the protein becomes more and more folded, entropy decreases.
This is due to the hydrophobic effect
How is folding hierarchical?
As a certain number of translated amino acids appear from the ribosome, they fold up…when another group of amino acids appears from the ribosome, they fold up (with the first group), etc…
*This also explains the concept of “repeating motifs”
What are the amino acids that destabilize a chain? Why do they destabilize the chain?
Gly- has no “r” group which allows greater rotation around psi and phi
Asn, Ser, Asp- have “r” groups that interact with the main chain (backbone)
Pro- has “r” group that is part of the main chain (causes kinks in alpha-helices)
Can proteins undergo metamophosis?
Yes
Explain the concept of “content dependent” in regards to protein folding
The same sequence of amino acids can take on different shapes in different proteins