Polypeptide Chain
Synthesis: A Paper
Simulation Actitivy

Are organic polymers.
◦ Polymers are composed of monomers.
 A monomer is a repeating structural unit
What is the repeating structural unit for a protein?
The amino acid
Proteins
Basic Amino Acid
Structure
Amino group
R group
Carboxyl group
The Twenty Amino Acids with the R group of each highlighted
Involves two amino acids.
 Involves a dehydration synthesis.
 Involves a chemical reaction that occurs
between two specific areas of the amino
acid.
 Requires an –OH group and an –H from
another –OH group

Polypeptide Synthesis
Think about these questions:
What is a polypeptide chain?
2. What two functional groups are involved
in polypeptide synthesis?
3. How can water form during the synthesis
of a polypeptide chain?
1.
Proteins are many chained structures.
Are organic polymers composed of monomers called amino
acids. How many amino acids are in this chain?
 Strands of amino acids are called polypeptide chains. Where
are the peptide bonds?

Is this a complete protein? No
Amino Acids
Polypeptide Chain
Protein with two
Polypeptide chains
The complete protein is the picture
with two polypeptide chains.



The sequence of
amino acids
determines the
specific protein
Question 10 on the
lab wants you to
write the sequence
of amino acids from
the paper chain
Phe-met-tryp-ala


Use the (4) amino
acids to make a
protein
Tryp–phe–ala-met
Make another one:
Phe-tryp-met-ala

What determines a specific
protein?

Video for Protein Function
Functions of Proteins