Asked by Layla

What are the building blocks of proteins?

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Proteins are built from amino acids.

- Amino acids are small molecules with a central (alpha) carbon bonded to an amino group (–NH2), a carboxyl group (–COOH), a hydrogen, and a variable side chain (R group).
- Proteins form when amino acids are joined by peptide bonds in a chain (a polypeptide).
- The sequence of amino acids determines how the chain folds (secondary/tertiary/quaternary structure) and thus the protein’s function.
- There are 20 standard amino acids used in proteins; humans cannot synthesize nine of them (the essential amino acids) and must obtain them from the diet.