00:00:00
the primary structure of a polypeptide
00:00:02
describes that polypeptide as being a
00:00:05
linear polymer of a specific sequence of
00:00:08
amino acids now once the polypeptide
00:00:12
forms its primary structure what happens
00:00:15
next well next that primary polypeptide
00:00:19
begins to twist and begins to turn via
00:00:22
these regular patterns and there are
00:00:25
four different types of regular patterns
00:00:28
we have Alpha helixes we have we have
00:00:30
beta plated sheets we have beta turns
00:00:33
and we have omega loops and these four
00:00:36
different types of regular patterns
00:00:39
compose the secondary structure of our
00:00:42
protein of our
00:00:43
polypeptide now the question is how
00:00:46
exactly does the PO polypeptide begin to
00:00:49
twist to form these four different types
00:00:52
of structures well inside the
00:00:55
polypeptide we have different bonds now
00:00:58
the peptide bonds the bonds holding the
00:01:01
amino acids inside the polypeptide
00:01:04
together and these peptide bonds have a
00:01:06
double bond character what that means is
00:01:09
they don't actually rotate but all the
00:01:12
other single bonds inside the
00:01:14
polypeptide chain do rotate and it's the
00:01:17
rotation of these other single bonds
00:01:20
inside the polypeptide chain that allows
00:01:23
the linear polypeptide to eventually
00:01:26
fold into the Beta plated sheet into the
00:01:29
Alpha Helix into the Beta turn and our
00:01:33
Omega Loop now once we form these
00:01:36
regular patterns the question is what
00:01:39
exactly stabilizes these structures and
00:01:42
allows them to exist in the first place
00:01:45
well it's the hydrogen bonds that exist
00:01:47
between the amino acids in that
00:01:49
polypeptide chain as we'll see in just a
00:01:52
moment that allows each one of these
00:01:55
secondary structures to actually exist
00:01:57
in the first place so let's begin with
00:02:00
the alpha Helix so what exactly is an
00:02:02
alpha Helix well an alpha Helix is
00:02:06
formed when we have our polypeptide
00:02:09
chain and that polypeptide chain begins
00:02:12
to twist to form a rodlike structure and
00:02:15
inside that rodlike structure we have
00:02:18
the backbone and on the outside we have
00:02:20
those archain groups that are pointing
00:02:23
outside of that Alpha Helix so the alpha
00:02:27
Helix is a rodlike structure as shown on
00:02:29
the board that contains the backbone
00:02:32
being in the inside of that Helix and
00:02:35
the side chain groups on the outer
00:02:37
portion of that Helix now let's suppose
00:02:40
that this is our axis of rotation so the
00:02:44
axis of rotation along which that Alpha
00:02:47
Helix actually forms runs runs along the
00:02:51
xaxis in this direction so this is the
00:02:54
beginning of our polypeptide and this is
00:02:57
the end so we see that in this case we
00:03:00
go into the board then we come out of
00:03:03
the board we go into the board out of
00:03:05
the board we go into the board out of
00:03:07
the board we go into the board out of
00:03:09
the board and so forth so the screw
00:03:12
sense of our Alpha Helix basically
00:03:15
describes the directionality of rotation
00:03:18
about the axis of rotation for that
00:03:21
particular Alpha Helix now what do we
00:03:23
mean by that well if this is the axis of
00:03:26
rotation so and if we look at the axis
00:03:29
of R ation and we examine the
00:03:32
directionality of that rotating Alpha
00:03:34
Helix the rotating polypeptide chain in
00:03:37
this case it will point in the clockwise
00:03:40
Direction so going this way is clockwise
00:03:43
and in this particular case the screw
00:03:46
sense of this Alpha Helix is clockwise
00:03:49
and this is known as the rightand Helix
00:03:52
now we can also have a leftand helix in
00:03:55
which the directionality is reversed it
00:03:58
would be counterclockwise wi now the
00:04:01
left hand the left-handed Helix is much
00:04:04
less stable because there's more sterak
00:04:07
hindering there is a greater number of
00:04:09
collisions between the r chains of our
00:04:13
polypeptide and so because of that the
00:04:16
energy level of the left-handed Helix is
00:04:19
higher than the energy level of the
00:04:21
right-handed Helix and what that means
00:04:23
is for the majority of the proteins that
00:04:26
contain the alpha Helix it will be the
00:04:29
right right-handed Helix and not the
00:04:31
left-handed Helix that will exist within
00:04:34
that protein so the right-handed Alpha
00:04:37
Helix predominates because there is less
00:04:40
steric hindrance between the side chains
00:04:43
on our Alpha Helix now the final thing
00:04:47
I'd like to mention about the alpha
00:04:48
Helix is the actual hydrogen bonding
00:04:51
that exists between our Amino groups so
00:04:55
let's suppose that this is our uh this
00:04:58
is our amino acid that we actually
00:05:00
examining so this is our amino acid and
00:05:03
this green bond is the peptide bond that
00:05:06
does not rotate that connects this amino
00:05:09
acid to the next amino acid then we have
00:05:12
this peptide bond that connects this
00:05:15
amino acid and so forth so remember
00:05:18
these green bonds are peptide bonds and
00:05:21
because those peptide bonds are resonant
00:05:23
stabilized they have a double bond
00:05:25
character and they will not rotate but
00:05:28
these other bonds are single bonds and
00:05:30
they do rotate and it's their rotation
00:05:33
that allows this Helix and the other
00:05:36
structures of the secondary structure to
00:05:38
actually form in the first place now
00:05:40
once we form them it's the hydrogen
00:05:43
bonds that exist between the NH group of
00:05:46
one amino acid and the co group of
00:05:49
another amino acid that stabilizes these
00:05:52
structures and allows them to exist for
00:05:55
an extended period of time now let's
00:05:58
focus on this amino acid here so we see
00:06:01
that we have this NH group of this amino
00:06:04
acid here that interacts with the COO
00:06:07
group of this amino acid here the
00:06:10
question is what is the numerical
00:06:13
relationship between this group here and
00:06:16
this group here so let's count so we
00:06:19
have this peptide bond here so let's
00:06:22
call this amino acid number one then we
00:06:24
have this peptide here we have amino
00:06:27
acid number two we have this peptide
00:06:29
here amino acid number three and finally
00:06:31
we have this peptide here and amino acid
00:06:34
number four and so what we see is if
00:06:38
this is our amino acid that contains the
00:06:40
NH group then it will interact with the
00:06:43
co group with the uh the C group of the
00:06:47
amino acid that is found four units
00:06:49
ahead of that particular amino acid and
00:06:53
this is always true for the alpha Helix
00:06:56
so it's the NH group of one amino acid
00:06:59
that interacts with the co group of the
00:07:02
amino acid that is found four units
00:07:05
ahead of that amino acid and the reason
00:07:08
this takes place is because these are
00:07:10
the groups that are found in closest
00:07:13
proximity and are able to interact
00:07:17
strongly now let's move on to the beta
00:07:19
pleated sheets we see that in the alpha
00:07:22
Helix we have we we we have this helical
00:07:26
directionality of our polypeptide but in
00:07:29
the the beta plated sheets these
00:07:31
polymers are linear so the polypeptide
00:07:35
is linear and they're basically stacked
00:07:37
on top of one another now just like in
00:07:40
the helical case where we have two
00:07:42
different types of alpha helixes we have
00:07:44
the right-handed and the left-handed we
00:07:47
also have two types of beta pleated
00:07:49
sheets so we can have these two linear
00:07:52
peptides or polypeptide chains uh
00:07:55
basically point in the opposite
00:07:57
directions or they can point in the same
00:08:00
direction so anti-parallel
00:08:02
directionality basically means they are
00:08:05
stacked on top of one another but they
00:08:08
point in opposite directions and the
00:08:10
parallel beta sheet basically means
00:08:13
they're stacked on top of one another
00:08:15
and they point in the same direction so
00:08:18
let's begin with the anti- parallel case
00:08:21
and let's discuss how the bonding
00:08:23
actually takes place within the
00:08:26
anti-parallel beta pleaded sheets now
00:08:29
because we essentially have one of these
00:08:32
chains running in this direction and the
00:08:34
other one is reversed we see that these
00:08:38
groups actually line up with one another
00:08:41
perfectly and what that means is if we
00:08:44
examine this amino acid here and this
00:08:47
amino acid here they're groups that are
00:08:50
able to interact line up perfectly so we
00:08:53
have this hydrogen accepting group that
00:08:57
interacts with this hydrogen donating
00:08:59
group on the other amino acid and here
00:09:02
we have this hydrogen donating group
00:09:04
that interacts with this hydrogen
00:09:06
accepting group of the other opposing
00:09:08
amino acids so in the anti-parallel beta
00:09:11
sheets we see that the NH and the co
00:09:15
groups of an amino acid on one strand
00:09:18
interact with the co and NH groups of
00:09:22
the opposing amino acid on the other
00:09:24
strand so we have a one toone perfect
00:09:27
interaction between our were groups on
00:09:31
opposing amino acids now how exactly can
00:09:34
this actually exist well let's imagine
00:09:37
we have our polypeptide that runs in the
00:09:40
following Direction and somewhere here
00:09:42
we have a turn that will take place and
00:09:45
that turn can be a beta turn that we're
00:09:48
going to discuss in just a moment and
00:09:50
once that turn takes place it extends
00:09:53
and moves in the opposite direction and
00:09:55
so we have the anti-parallel arrangement
00:09:58
of two strands of polypeptide now in
00:10:03
this particular case the only difference
00:10:06
is there's still a parallel with respect
00:10:08
to one another but now they run in the
00:10:11
same direction and what that will do is
00:10:13
it will change the type of interaction
00:10:16
that exists between our amino acids in
00:10:19
this case we have a one toone
00:10:21
interaction so one amino acid interacts
00:10:24
with the opposing amino acid but here we
00:10:27
have one amino acid in interacts with
00:10:30
two different amino acids on the
00:10:32
opposing strand so let's call this amino
00:10:36
acid number one this let's call amino
00:10:39
acid number two and this amino acid
00:10:41
number three so we have the NH Bond of
00:10:45
amino acid number one interacts with the
00:10:47
co Bond of amino acid 2 on the opposing
00:10:50
Strand and the co Bond of this amino
00:10:54
acid number one interacts with the NH a
00:10:58
group of a different amino acid on that
00:11:01
opposing strand we call that amino acid
00:11:04
3 so in the parallel beta sheet the
00:11:07
Jason strands run in the same direction
00:11:10
and an amino acid on one strand connects
00:11:13
to two amino acids on the opposing
00:11:16
strand via the hydrogen bond so we see
00:11:19
that not only do we have these opposing
00:11:22
directions but because in this case we
00:11:25
have the opposing directions they line
00:11:28
up perfectly but in this case because
00:11:30
they run in the same Direction They
00:11:33
Don't line up perfectly and so we have
00:11:35
this type of one to two interaction as
00:11:38
opposed to one: one in this case now the
00:11:42
final type of secondary structure that
00:11:44
I'd like to discuss are the beta turns
00:11:47
so what do we mean by Beta turn and why
00:11:49
do our polypeptides need to create these
00:11:53
beta turns in the first place well if we
00:11:56
examine the three dimensional structure
00:11:58
of poly peptides we'll see that the
00:12:00
structure is very very Compact and the
00:12:03
compactness of that polypeptide is
00:12:06
because the polypeptide is able to make
00:12:09
many sharp turns as it conforms into
00:12:12
that threedimensional structure and this
00:12:15
ability to form these turns is known as
00:12:19
beta turning and these turns themselves
00:12:21
are known as beta turns or reverse turn
00:12:24
so the compact nature of proteins is in
00:12:28
part due to the polypeptide's ability to
00:12:31
make these sudden turns known as the
00:12:34
beta turns now in the same way that the
00:12:38
alpha Helix and the beta pleated sheet
00:12:41
are stabilized by hydrogen bonds these
00:12:44
abrupt turns are also stabilized by H
00:12:47
bonds and to see what we mean let's take
00:12:49
a look at the following diagram so let's
00:12:52
suppose we have polypop polypeptide that
00:12:55
runs eventually turns in the following
00:12:57
Direction so this is let's say the nth
00:13:00
amino acid in our sequence this is the
00:13:03
n+1 amino acid this is the n plus2 amino
00:13:07
acid this is the n+3 amino acid and so
00:13:10
forth now to actually stabilize the beta
00:13:13
turn and to make sure that it is
00:13:16
stabilized and exists for an extended
00:13:18
period of time we have to have a bond
00:13:21
that forms between the co group
00:13:25
so wow this is an H not an N so so if we
00:13:29
examine the nth amino acid the co group
00:13:33
of the nth amino acid interacts with the
00:13:35
NH group of the N plus3 amino acid and
00:13:39
this is the hyrogen bond that stabilizes
00:13:42
our beta turns and these beta turns are
00:13:45
usually found on the surface of that
00:13:48
Amino of that polypeptide and what that
00:13:51
means is these R chains found on the
00:13:54
beta turns are the one that interact
00:13:57
with the polar nature the polar solvents
00:14:00
found outside our protein as well as
00:14:02
with the molecules the macro molecules
00:14:04
that interact with our protein in
00:14:07
general so these are the different types
00:14:10
of secondary structure that exists that
00:14:13
make up our polypeptide