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Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins

Definition: Amino acids and chains of amino acids connected by peptide linkages.
Notes: not used for indexing or cataloging

Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins Categories.
Amino Acids - Organic compounds that generally contain an amino (-NH2) and a carboxyl (-COOH) group. Twenty alpha-amino acids are the subunits which are polymerized to form proteins.
Macromolecular Systems - Complexes or cellular systems composed of macromolecules (proteins, DNA, RNA, polysaccharides, etc.) such as RIBONUCLEOPROTEINS, CHROMATIN, MULTIENZYME COMPLEXES and other multimeric proteins.
Peptides - Any member of a class of compounds of low molecular weight which yield two or more amino acids on hydrolysis. Formed by loss of water from the NH2 and COOH groups of adjacent amino acids, they are known as di-, tri-, tetra- (etc.) peptides, depending on the number of amino acids in the molecule. Peptides form the constituent parts of proteins. (Dorland, 27th ed)
Proteins - Polymers of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. The specific sequence of amino acids determines the shape and function of the protein.

Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins Definitions and Terms

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