Labs on Chip

APPENDIX 2: Building Blocks of Proteins

In Chapter 2, we have seen that proteins are composed of a polypeptide chain, a biopolymer whose monomers are extracted by a limited set of small biomolecules: the 20 amino acids. They can be divided into two categories: amino acids with hydrophobic side groups, with hydrophilic side group and with neither hydrophobic nor hydrophilic side groups.

Here, we list structure and selected properties of those molecules that can be considered the building blocks of proteins. Structures are reported in Figures A2.1 through A2.20, properties in Tables A2.1, A2.2, and A2.3. All properties are at 279 K, if temperature dependent.

As far as amino acids coding is concerned, the three-letter codes convention is used throughout ...