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Protein Synthesis Essay

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Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is one of the most fundamental biological processes. To start off, a protein is made in a ribosome. There are many cellular mechanisms involved with protein synthesis. Before the process of protein synthesis can be described, a person must know what proteins are made out of. There are four basic levels of protein organization. The first is primary structure, followed by secondary structure, then tertiary structure, and the last level is quaternary structure. Once someone understands the makeup of a protein, they can then begin to learn how elements can combine and go from genes to protein. There are two main processes that occur during protein synthesis, or peptide formation. One is transcription and …show more content…

These new formations are held together by hydrogen bonds. The third level is the tertiary structure. The tertiary structure of a protein is a contorted secondary structure being twisted and folded all out of shape to form a 3-d complex. The type of bonding that holds these formations together are weak interactions such as hydrophilic, hydrophobic, ionic, and hydrogen bonds. These bonds are individually weak, but collectively strong. The forth level, which completes a protein, is quaternary structure, which occurs when two or more tertiary structures are joined together by polypeptide bonds. The formation of a protein begins in the genes, which contain the basic building information for all parts of living organisms. There are four DNA nucleotides that make up genes: A, T, C, and G. A codon is any arrangement of three of these nucleotides. Each triplet of nucleotides codes for one amino acid. First transcription will begin in the nucleus where mRNA will transcribe the DNA template. During both transcription and translation, there are three steps. The first step in transcription is initiation where RNA polymerase separates a DNA strand and binds RNA nucleotides to the DNA. RNA nucleotides are the same as DNA ones except that U replaces the T. The second is just the elongation of the mRNA. The third step of transcription is termination. This occurs when RNA polymerase reads a codon region and the mRNA separates from the

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