What is a Protein?
This two-page PDF introduces what proteins are, how their 3-dimensional structure relates to their function, and what jobs they perform in our cells.
Proteins are some of the most important molecules in biochemistry. They are long strands that fold up into an endless variety of 3-dimensional shapes and sizes, each uniquely structured to perform a specific function in the body.
Because proteins are such large and complex molecules, scientists often describe their shape using four layers of protein structure. Explore each of the four layers using the interactive webpages linked below.
All proteins are made from small molecules called amino acids that are joined together like links in a chain. The sequence of amino acids in a protein determines its structure and shape.
Protein chains fold into complex 3-dimensional shapes with two common secondary structures, alpha helices and beta sheets.
Proteins continue to fold into an overall 3-dimensional shape with precise arrangements of their secondary structures.
Some proteins comprise more than one amino acid chain, forming stable multi-chain assemblies.
Protein Structure Modeling Kit
Learn about protein Structure and function with the hands-on kit that inspired the protein modeling event.
Alpha Helix & Beta Sheet Structure Sets
Explore how the repeating N-C-C pattern can result in two very different secondary structures and search for patterns based on the hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties of each backbone’s side chains.
The first protein structure, myoglobin, was determined in 1958 by John Kendrew and Max Perutz at the University of Cambridge.
Just like you and your Science Olympiad team, they built physical models to help them understand the relationships between protein structure and function.
Since then, various experimental methods have been developed to determine protein structures. Explore the RCSB Protein Databank's article on Methods for Determining Atomic Structures to learn more about these amazing technologies.
Each new technology enabled the solution of new protein structures. One structure determination method may be more effective for large proteins, while another is more suitable for unstable proteins, and yet another for membrane-embedded proteins. Together, these various methods have been used by thousands of researchers to continually increase the number of solved protein structures.
Solved structures are often shared publicly so that other researchers can study them. The RCSB Protein Databank is the largest depository of experimentally solved protein structures, with over 240,000 structures!
David Baker and Rosetta
David Baker is the director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington. His early work laid the foundation for AI protein structure determination, starting with the community-powered software Rosetta, which networked volunteer computer processing resources to calculate protein structures algorithmically.
Dr. Baker also created a video game called Foldit, in which users are challenged to solve protein structures using manipulation tools in a 3D environment. Foldit has been used by over 60,000 players, often producing protein structure results that outperformed algorithmically computed solutions.
Demis Hassabis, John Jumper and AlphaFold
Demis Hassabis and John Jumper are the co-developers of AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence model that predicts the 3-dimensional structure of proteins from their amino acid sequences. AlphaFold’s predictions, made freely available through the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, have given more than 2 million scientists and researchers from 190 countries a powerful tool for making discoveries.
Google's DeepMind, the AI technology behind AlphaFold, has been applied to a wide range of real-world problems, including image and video creation, robotics, computer vision, weather prediction, geological research, and medical diagnostics.
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
"It is hardly possible to overstate the potential encompassed by life’s chemical building blocks, these 20 amino acids. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about understanding and mastering them at an entirely new level. One half of the prize goes to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, who have utilised artificial intelligence to successfully solve a problem that chemists wrestled with for over 50 years: predicting the three-dimensional structure of a protein from a sequence of amino acids. This has allowed them to predict the structure of almost all 200 million known proteins. The other half of the prize is awarded to David Baker. He has developed computerised methods for achieving what many people believed was impossible: creating proteins that did not previously exist and which, in many cases, have entirely new functions."
- Excerpt from the Nobel Prize organization
Explore the Nobel Prize organization's summary of the 2024 Chemistry Award to learn more about how AI protein structure prediction is changing the way researchers solve protein structures.