Conformation of proteins in interfaces
Like many other substances with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups, soluble proteins tend to migrate into the interface between air and water or oil and water; the term oil here means a hydrophobic liquid such as benzene or xylene. Within the interface, proteins spread, forming thin films. Measurements of the surface tension, or interfacial tension, of such films indicate that tension is reduced by the protein film. Proteins, when forming an interfacial film, are present as a monomolecular layer—i.e., a layer one molecule in height. Although it was once thought that globular protein molecules unfold completely in the interface, it has now been established that many proteins can be recovered from films in the native state. The application of lateral pressure on a protein film causes it to increase in thickness and finally to form a layer with a height corresponding to the diameter of the native protein molecule. Protein molecules in an interface, because of Brownian motions (molecular vibrations), occupy much more space than do those in the film after the application of pressure. The Brownian motion of compressed molecules is limited to the two dimensions of the interface, since the protein molecules cannot move upward or downward.
The motion of protein molecules at the air–water interface has been used to determine the molecular weight of proteins. The technique involves measuring the force exerted by the protein layer on a barrier.
When a protein solution is vigorously shaken in air, it forms a foam, because the soluble proteins migrate into the air–water interface and persist there, preventing or slowing the reconversion of the foam into a homogeneous solution. Some of the unstable, easily modified proteins are denatured when spread in the air–water interface. The formation of a permanent foam when egg white is vigorously stirred is an example of irreversible denaturation by spreading in a surface.
Classification of proteins
Classification by solubility
After two German chemists, Emil Fischer and Franz Hofmeister, independently stated in 1902 that proteins are essentially polypeptides consisting of many amino acids, an attempt was made to classify proteins according to their chemical and physical properties, because the biological function of proteins had not yet been established. (The protein character of enzymes was not proved until the 1920s.) Proteins were classified primarily according to their solubility in a number of solvents. This classification is no longer satisfactory, however, because proteins of quite different structure and function sometimes have similar solubilities; conversely, proteins of the same function and similar structure sometimes have different solubilities. The terms associated with the old classification, however, are still widely used. They are defined below.
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Collagen molecule.© ynse/Shutterstock.com
Albumins are proteins that are soluble in water and in water half-saturated with ammonium sulfate. On the other hand, globulins are salted out (i.e., precipitated) by half-saturation with ammonium sulfate. Globulins that are soluble in salt-free water are called pseudoglobulins; those insoluble in salt-free water are euglobulins. Both prolamins and glutelins, which are plant proteins, are insoluble in water; the prolamins dissolve in 50 to 80 percent ethanol, the glutelins in acidified or alkaline solution. The term protamine is used for a number of proteins in fish sperm that consist of approximately 80 percent arginine and therefore are strongly alkaline. Histones, which are less alkaline, apparently occur only in cell nuclei, where they are bound to nucleic acids. The term scleroproteins has been used for the insoluble proteins of animal organs. They include keratin, the insoluble protein of certain epithelial tissues such as the skin or hair, and collagen, the protein of the connective tissue. A large group of proteins has been called conjugated proteins, because they are complex molecules of protein consisting of protein and nonprotein moieties. The nonprotein portion is called the prosthetic group. Conjugated proteins can be subdivided into mucoproteins, which, in addition to protein, contain carbohydrate; lipoproteins, which contain lipids; phosphoproteins, which are rich in phosphate; chromoproteins, which contain pigments such as iron-porphyrins, carotenoids, bile pigments, and melanin; and finally, nucleoproteins, which contain nucleic acid.
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Scanning electron micrograph showing strands of keratin in a feather, magnified 186×.Janice Carr/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Image Number: 8673)
The weakness of the above classification lies in the fact that many, if not all, globulins contain small amounts of carbohydrate; thus there is no sharp borderline between globulins and mucoproteins. Moreover, the phosphoproteins do not have a prosthetic group that can be isolated; they are merely proteins in which some of the hydroxyl groups of serine are phosphorylated (i.e., contain phosphate). Finally, the globulins include proteins with quite different roles—enzymes, antibodies, fibrous proteins, and contractile proteins.
Classification by biological functions
In view of the unsatisfactory state of the old classification, it is preferable to classify the proteins according to their biological function. Such a classification is far from ideal, however, because one protein can have more than one function. The contractile protein myosin, for example, also acts as an ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase), an enzyme that hydrolyzes adenosine triphosphate (removes a phosphate group from ATP by introducing a water molecule). Another problem with functional classification is that the definite function of a protein frequently is not known. A protein cannot be called an enzyme as long as its substrate (the specific compound upon which it acts) is not known. It cannot even be tested for its enzymatic action when its substrate is not known.
Special structure and function of proteins
Despite its weaknesses, a functional classification is used here in order to demonstrate, whenever possible, the correlation between the structure and function of a protein. The structural, fibrous proteins are presented first, because their structure is simpler than that of the globular proteins and more clearly related to their function, which is the maintenance of either a rigid or a flexible structure.
Structural proteins
Scleroproteins
Collagen
Collagen is the structural protein of bones, tendons, ligaments, and skin. For many years collagen was considered to be insoluble in water. Part of the collagen of calf skin, however, can be extracted with citrate buffer at pH 3.7. A precursor of collagen called procollagen is converted in the body into collagen. Procollagen has a molecular weight of 120,000. Cleavage of one or a few peptide bonds of procollagen yields collagen, which has three subunits, each with a molecular weight of 95,000; therefore, the molecular weight of collagen is 285,000 (3 × 95,000). The three subunits are wound as spirals around an elongated straight axis. The length of each subunit is 2,900 angstroms, and its diameter is approximately 15 angstroms. The three chains are staggered, so that the trimer has no definite terminal limits.
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Randomly oriented collagenous fibres of varying size in a thin spread of loose areolar connective …Don W. Fawcett, M.D.
Collagen differs from all other proteins in its high content of proline and hydroxyproline. Hydroxyproline does not occur in significant amounts in any other protein except elastin. Most of the proline in collagen is present in the sequence glycine–proline-X, in which X is frequently alanine or hydroxyproline. Collagen does not contain cystine or tryptophan and therefore cannot substitute for other proteins in the diet. The presence of proline causes kinks in the peptide chain and thus reduces the length of the amino acid unit from 3.7 angstroms in the extended chain of the β-structure to 2.86 angstroms in the collagen chain. In the intertwined triple helix, the glycines are inside, close to the axis; the prolines are outside.
Native collagen resists the action of trypsin but is hydrolyzed by the bacterial enzyme collagenase. When collagen is boiled with water, the triple helix is destroyed, and the subunits are partially hydrolyzed; the product is gelatin. The unfolded peptide chains of gelatin trap large amounts of water, resulting in a hydrated molecule.
When collagen is treated with tannic acid or with chromium salts, cross links form between the collagen fibres, and it becomes insoluble; the conversion of hide into leather is based on this tanning process. The tanned material is insoluble in hot water and cannot be converted to gelatin. On exposure to water at 62° to 63° C (144° to 145° F), however, the cross links formed by the tanning agents collapse, and the leather contracts irreversibly to about one-third its original volume.
Collagen seems to undergo an aging process in living organisms that may be caused by the formation of cross links between collagen fibres. They are formed by the conversion of some lysine side chains to aldehydes (compounds with the general structure RCHO), and the combination of the aldehydes with the ε-amino groups of intact lysine side chains. The protein elastin, which occurs in the elastic fibres of connective tissue, contains similar cross links and may result from the combination of collagen fibres with other proteins. When cross-linked collagen or elastin is degraded, products of the cross-linked lysine fragments, called desmosins and isodesmosins, are formed.
Additional Media
More about protein
- blood chemistry (in blood (biochemistry): Plasma)
- regenerative medicine (in regenerative medicine) (in regenerative medicine: Regeneration using stem cells)
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cellular mechanisms in
- chemoreception (in chemoreception (physiology): Perireceptor events)
- thermoreception (in thermoreception: Study of thermoreceptors)
- chemical nature of enzymes (in enzyme: Chemical nature) (in protein (biochemistry): Chemical nature)
- denaturation (in denaturation)
- excretion and excretory systems (in excretion: Products of excretion)
Additional Reading
External Links
Britannica Web sites
Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
- protein - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
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The word protein comes from the Greek work proteios, meaning "primary." Proteins are large organic compounds essential to life. They are made up of complex combinations of amino acids and are the most common macromolecules found in cells.
