Which of the following structure is not affected in protein denaturation?
High-Yield Explanation
Ans. (a) Primary structureRef: Harper's Biochemistry, 30lh ed. pg. 26-29, 618-19 |PROTEIN DENATURATION* In quaternary structure denaturation, protein sub-units are dissociated and/or the spatial arrangement of protein subunits is disrupted.* Primary structure, such as the sequence of amino acids held together by covalent peptide bonds, is not disrupted by denaturation.* In secondary structure denaturation proteins adopt a random coil as they lose all regular repeating patterns such as alpha-helices and beta-pleated sheets, and configuration.* Tertiary structure denaturation involves the disruption of:1. Covalent interactions between amino acid side- chains (such as disulfide bridges between cysteine groups)2. Non-covalent dipole-dipole interactions between polar amino acid side-chains (and the surrounding solvent)3. Van der Waals (induced dipole) interactions between nonpolar amino acid side-chains.