What is meant by a tertiary structure protein?
The tertiary structure is the structure at which polypeptide chains become functional. At this level, every protein has a specific three-dimensional shape and presents functional groups on its outer surface, allowing it to interact with other molecules, and giving it its unique function.
What is the tertiary structure of a protein determined by?
The tertiary structure is the final specific geometric shape that a protein assumes. This final shape is determined by a variety of bonding interactions between the "side chains" on the amino acids. These bonding interactions may be stronger than the hydrogen bonds between amide groups holding the helical structure.
What is the primary level of a protein structure?
The simplest level of protein structure, primary structure, is simply the sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain. For example, the hormone insulin has two polypeptide chains, A and B, shown in diagram below. (The insulin molecule shown here is cow insulin, although its structure is similar to that of human insulin.)
Protein Structure