What is Protein?
Protein molecules are long chains of constituent amino acids, joined together by ‘peptide’ bonds. There are 20 standard amino acids that can be joined to form proteins. The combination of different amino acids in the chain, along with the relative numbers of each in the protein will determine the overall structure of the protein and therefore its purpose.
The 20 amino acids used in protein are listed below. Those in italics are deemed essential because they cannot be created in the body from other amino acids in a process called transamination.
They must be obtained from the diet, or deficiency will result:
- Glycine
- Phenylalanine
- Cysteine
- Aspartate
- Alanine
- Tyrosine
- Methionine
- Asparagine
- Valine
- Tryptophan
- Proline
- Lysine
- Leucine
- Serine
- Glutamate
- Arginine
- Isoleucine
- Threonine
- Glutamine
- Histidine
There are other, non-protein amino acids such as ornithine and taurine, which have their own particular biological functions. Indeed, many of the above standard amino acids also have non-protein functions in the body.
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