Proteins - Retrieval Questions 5

What does collagen allow tendons to do?

It connects the muscle to the bone, allowing the skeleton to move.

What are the feature of keratin?

Hard
Strong

Where is keratin found?

In fingernails, horns, hooves.

Describe the primary structure of keratin.

Contains high amounts of cysteine.
This results in disulphide links to form between the two polypeptide chains.

What is cysteine?

An amino acid containing sulphur.

What makes keratin hard and strong?

The disulphide links between the polypeptide chains.

What are the properties of elastin?

It can stretch and recoil.

Why is elastin stretchy?

it is stretchy due to the coiling of the elastin molecules and cross links that keep the molecules together

Where is elastin found?

In the lungs, bladder and the blood vessel walls.

Why is elastin useful in the lungs?

It helps the lungs to inflate and deflate.

Why is elastin useful in the bladder?

To help expand the bladder to hold urine.

Why is elastin useful in the blood vessel walls?

It helps maintain blood pressure by stretching and recoiling.

Why do organisms need metabolic reactions?

They need them to survive.

What is metabolism?

It refers to all the reactions of the body.

What can speed up reactions?

Through increasing temperatures and the use of a catalyst.

What can happen if you increase the temperature too much?

It can damage cells.

What is a catalyst?

A chemical that speeds up the rate of reaction and remains unchanged and reusable at the end of the reaction.

What are biological catalysts for metabolic reactions called?

Enzymes

What are enzymes?

They are biological catalysts for metabolic reactions.

What is a molecule that can have a reaction catalysed by an enzyme called?

A substrate