BL/CH401 Lecture 9

Tertiary and Quaternary Structure

Part II. A. Bonding in Quaternary Structure

Part II. Quaternary Structure -- The 4th Level of Protein Structure

A. Bonding in Quaternary Structure

Quaternary structure is formed between polypeptide chains and leads to the formation of dimers, trimers, tetramers, etc. The 4th level of structure depends on non-covalent bonding between 2 polypeptide chains.

Figure 8. Table of Molecular Weight and Subunit Composition of Proteins

This topic was also discussed in Lecture 7 where methods for determining the number of subunits in a protein were described (Go To Lecture 7)

Bonds in quaternary structure:

Commonly found:

Ionic Bonds

Hydrogen Bonds

Less Commonly found:

Hydrophobic interfaces

Interchain Disulfides

Back to Lecture 9 Home Page

©Wilbur H. Campbell, 1995; wcampbel@mtu.edu