protein structure is the 3D arrangement of atoms in proteins
protein structures range in size from tens to thousands of amino acids
protein structure levels help us determine the overall structure of a protein, with the of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure levels
primary structure
primary structure is the most basic level and it describes the sequence of amino acids that make up the protein
secondary structure
secondary structure is the very basic folds the polymer makes through hydrogen bonding between amino acids
there are two different structures that can be formed depending on their shape: alpha helices and beta sheets
tertiary structure
tertiary structure is when the protein starts to fold up in all sorts of weird and wacky ways due to ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, covalent bonding, or hydrophobic reactions between R groups on the amino acids
quaternary structure
quaternary structure occurs when multiple proteins comes together to make a larger protein