Principles of Protein Structure

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
• Convenor and tutor: Clare Sansom
• Assessment: a 1.5-hour examination (66%) and coursework (34%)

Proteins are fundamental to all biology. Structural biology is the science behind the determination of the three-dimensional structures of these essential molecules and the application of this information to studies of their function and role. This module will introduce you to this fascinating topic and will explain how a protein’s function in both health and disease is derived from its structure.

Indicative module syllabus

• Primary and secondary structure of proteins, and structural motifs
• The structure of protein domains and complete chains (tertiary structure)
• Quaternary structure of protein complexes
• The structures of membrane proteins
• The protein lifecycle
• Protein interactions, function and mechanism

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• enumerate and explain the basic hierarchy of protein structure, in terms of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure, motifs and domains
• explain how these structures arise from basic amino acid chemistry and the geometry of the peptide bond
• explain how the structures of membrane-embedded proteins differ from those of soluble ones
• describe in detail the structures of proteins involved in key biological processes including, but not restricted to: DNA expression, enzyme catalysis, oxygen transport and immune function
• analyse how protein structure relates to drug design and how small changes to protein sequence and structure can give rise to disease.