Proteins have a variety of functions within a living cell. What are the possible functions of proteins, and how can proteins be so diverse?
Proteins are made of amino acids bonded together in a variety of ways and can function as enzymes, transport, and structure.
Proteins consist of monomers of glucose bonded together in a variety of ways and can function as energy, enzymes, and transport.
Proteins function as storage, movement, and defense and are diverse due to the arrangement of the nucleic acids.
Proteins function as insulation, protection, and defense and are diverse due to the arrangement of the fatty acids
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Answer:
Protein Function
The collection of proteins within a cell determines its health and function. Proteins are responsible for nearly every task of cellular life, including cell shape and inner organization, product manufacture and waste cleanup, and routine maintenance. Proteins also receive signals from outside the cell and mobilize intracellular response. They are the workhorse macromolecules of the cell and are as diverse as the functions they serve.
How Diverse Are Proteins?
A schematic shows two possible outcomes of a protein phosphorylation event. At the top, an inactivated protein is phosphorylated by a kinase and becomes activated. At the bottom, a different activated protein is phosphorylated by a kinase and becomes inactivated. In both scenarios, an arrow represents the removal of the phosphate group by a phosphatase enzyme after the phosphorylation event has occurred.
Figure 1: The phosphorylation of a protein can make it active or inactive.
Phosphorylation can either activate a protein (orange) or inactivate it (green). Kinase is an enzyme that phosphorylates proteins. Phosphatase is an enzyme that dephosphorylates proteins, effectively undoing the action of kinase.
Figure DetailProteins can be big or small, mostly hydrophilic or mostly hydrophobic, exist alone or as part of a multi-unit structure, and change shape frequently or remain virtually immobile. All of these differences arise from the unique amino acid sequences that make up proteins. Fully folded proteins also have distinct surface characteristics that determine which other molecules they interact with. When proteins bind with other molecules, their conformation can change in subtle or dramatic ways.
Not surprisingly, protein functions are as diverse as protein structures. For example, structural proteins maintain cell shape, akin to a skeleton, and they compose structural elements in connective tissues like cartilage and bone in vertebrates. Enzymes are another type of protein, and these molecules catalyze the biochemical reactions that occur in cells. Yet other proteins work as monitors, changing their shape and activity in response to metabolic signals or messages from outside the cell. Cells also secrete various proteins that become part of the extracellular matrix or are involved in intercellular communication.
Proteins are sometimes altered after translation and folding are complete. In such cases, so-called transferase enzymes add small modifier groups, such as phosphates or carboxyl groups, to the protein. These modifications often shift protein conformation and act as molecular switches that turn the activity of a protein on or off. Many post-translational modifications are reversible, although different enzymes catalyze the reverse reactions. For example, enzymes called kinases add phosphate groups to proteins, but enzymes called phosphatases are required to remove these phosphate groups
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