Some Facts Pertaining To Protein Sequencing

By Armand Zeiders


Protein Sequencing is simply a scientific procedure that is accomplished in order to uncover the amino acid sequence of a specific protein. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Proteins, in turn, are highly important structures within our cells responsible for many important cellular tasks.

Proteins complete innumerable tasks essential to human life. An example of this is that proteins take charge in the reproduction of DNA in a person's body. Proteins are also the couriers of signals that are sent to the whole body. They are likewise the ones accountable for causing metabolic reactions in all living organisms.

Scientists conduct studies on proteins because of the many important tasks they have and also because when problems happen with the proteins, the human body is affected and often the results of these problems are fatal or highly debilitating. Diseases of many different kinds are connected somewhat to proteins, like the neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and dementia in general.

N-terminal sequencing or protein sequencing is another process where scientists learn about proteins. Finding out the sequence of amino acids is done through mass spectrometry or Edman degradation and this is done at various biotechnology labs and usually outsourced. Scientists are searching for ways to fight diseases and find ways to better understand the body functions of a person, and some key discoveries have been made through the use of N-terminal sequencing and other biotechnology services.

The structure of proteins is unique in a way that the long chains of amino acids fold into complex structures that are three dimensional, and there are four aspects to this folding. The aspects in the three dimensional structure are the primary structure that contain the amino acid sequence and the secondary structure, and also include the tertiary and fourth structure. This structure is somewhat complicated and problems encountered with the folding of proteins may be the causes of many diseases in people. When structures are not normal, the results can be very damaging. If a building's structure is not sound, this can cause many problems and the same is true of our cells.

Sometimes scientists wish to look further, beyond protein sequencing. In these cases, they study peptides. Chains of amino acids form proteins, and peptides bond together to form amino acids. When this process occurs naturally, it is known as protein biosynthesis. In a lab setting, it is called peptide synthesis. It is one of several important tasks that are undertaken by the biotechnology industry which works to support scientists as well as the pharmaceutical industry as they create new medicines to combat a huge variety of conditions.




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