PROTEIN SHAPE 1

Proteins are made of strings of amino acids. One protein may contain several thousand amino acids.

Proteins work because of their shape.

For example, enzymes work because the shape of one part (the active site) matches the shape of the molecules catalysed by the enzyme.

The shape of a protein is determined by:

• its primary structure

• its secondary structure

• its tertiary structure
  

• and, in some cases, by its quaternary structure.