What are the components of protein?

Friends who often watch documentaries about survival in the wild know that in the wild, you can do without other foods, but protein is indispensable. Protein is an essential element for maintaining normal functioning of the human body. Therefore, protein is indispensable for human survival. Therefore, it is recommended that everyone should learn more about protein-related knowledge in daily life, such as the elemental composition of protein.

composition

Chemical composition

(1) Pure protein: contains only AAs

(2) Protein-bound: composed of AAs and other non-protein compounds

(3) Derivatized proteins: compounds obtained by chemical or enzymatic methods

Molecular composition

Basic unit: amino acids are made up of different AAs linked to each other by peptide bonds

Protein → peptide → peptide → polypeptide → dipeptide → polypeptide → amino acid

Elemental composition

It is composed of elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, iodine, iron, and zinc.

Functional classification

(1) Structural proteins: keratin, collagen, elastin

(2) Biologically active proteins: enzymes, hormones, immunoglobulins

(3) Food protein: any protein that is edible, easily digestible, non-toxic and usable by humans.

effect

1. It constitutes the basic substance in living organisms and is necessary for growth and maintenance of life;

2. Some proteins can act as biocatalysts, i.e. enzymes and hormones;

3. Materials necessary for the immune function of organisms;

4. Some proteins can cause food allergies.

Application in drug design

The process from genomic data to new drugs is divided into two parts: one is to select the target protein, and the other is to select the appropriate drug. The drug molecule must be tightly bound to the target protein molecule, easy to synthesize and have no toxic side effects. Traditional drug design determines lead compounds by screening a large number of natural compounds, analogs of known substrates or ligands, and biochemical studies. It relies less on the three-dimensional structure of the target protein, so the R&D cycle is long, the cost is huge, and it is more or less blind. With the growth of protein structure data and the development of structure prediction technology, the information of the three-dimensional structure of the target protein molecule plays an increasingly important role in the above two processes. Computer-aided drug design can shorten the R&D cycle and reduce costs.