Proteins

Topic Description

Upon completion of this module, you should be able to describe the general structure of a protein, explain what makes up a peptide bond, and describe the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structural levels of proteins. Proteins are polymers formed by the bonding of repetitive smaller units called monomers. The monomers that are the building blocks of proteins are amino acids. Amino acids have a common general structure. All amino acids have a carbon atom bonded to a hydrogen, an amino group, a carboxylic acid group, and an R group. The R group gives an amino acid its unique identity.