rotein Function
We have seen that each type of protein consists of a precise sequence of amino acids that allows it to fold up into a particular three-dimensional shape, or conformation. But proteins are not rigid lumps of material. They can have precisely engineered moving parts whose mechanical actions are coupled to chemical events. It is this coupling of chemistry and movement that gives proteins the extraordinary capabilities that underlie the dynamic processes in living cells.
In this section, we explain how proteins bind to other selected molecules and how their activity depends on such binding. We show that the ability to bind to other molecules enables proteins to act as catalysts, signal receptors, switches, motors, or tiny pumps. The examples we discuss in this chapter by no means exhaust the vast functional repertoire of proteins. However, the specialized functions of many of the proteins you will encounter elsewhere in this book are based on similar principles.
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All Proteins Bind to Other Molecules
The biological properties of a protein molecule depend on its physical interaction with other molecules. Thus, antibodies attach to viruses or bacteria to mark them for destruction, the enzyme hexokinase binds glucose and ATP so as to catalyze a reaction between them, actin molecules bind to each other to assemble into actin filaments, and so on. Indeed, all proteins stick, or bind, to other molecules. In some cases, this binding is very tight; in others, it is weak and short-lived. But the binding always shows great specificity, in the sense that each protein molecule can usually bind just one or a few molecules out of the many thousands of different types it encounters. The substance that is bound by the protein—no matter whether it is an ion, a small molecule, or a macromolecule— is referred to as a ligand for that protein (from the Latin word ligare, meaning “to bind”).
The ability of a protein to bind selectively and with high affinity to a ligand depends on the formation of a set of weak, noncovalent bonds—hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, and van der Waals attractions—plus favorable hydrophobic interactions (see Panel 2-3, pp. 114–115). Because each individual bond is weak, an effective binding interaction requires that many weak bonds be formed simultaneously. This is possible only if the surface contours of the ligand molecule fit very closely to the protein, matching it like a hand in a glove
