Biological Research as Practicum
My practicum research was on the determination of protein structure using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). I will explain to you what NMR is in a later blog post. Let me tell you about proteins. Proteins are large, complex molecules that are present everywhere in our body – in cells, in tissues and organs, and even the bloodstream. They play a critical role in transporting minerals to cells and tissues, in catalyzing reactions by enabling them or driving them faster, in messenger activity by coordinating different tissues in the form of hormones, and even bind to foreign bacteria and viruses to prevent them from infecting our bodies.
Now that we know what functions proteins play in our bodies, let me tell you what they are made of. Proteins are made of smaller molecules called Amino Acids. They are not what we generally call acids, it’s just a name given to them. There are 20 different types of amino acids that are connected to each other in long chains. These long chains can be hundreds or thousands of amino acids. The sequence of these amino acids is what determines the unique, 3-dimensional structure of proteins. My research was to determine the same 3-dimensional structure of the protein. Below is an image of the basic structure of amino acids.
There are two types of proteins – Integral and Peripheral. Peripheral proteins are usually attached to domains of the Integral proteins. Integral proteins are usually attached to the walls of cells. There is a later of phospholipids(not necessary to know right now), which are long chain molecules. The picture below is a better explanation and summation of everything I just said. The proteins lie from outside of the cell, through the phospholipid membrane, and to the inside of the cell. The protein that I am working on is a transmembrane protein, which helps in transporting Mercury from the outside of the cell to the inside for detoxification. There will be more on that in the next blog.