BG1131 Molecular Cell Biology for Biomedical Engineers

Homework 1. Proteins

1. 4-15. Draw the peptide with a sequence ATLAS and ATLDAK.

a. Calculate its approximate pI.
b. What is its net charge at pH 7.0? Explain your answer.

See Table 4-1 for values of the pK of side chains

2. 4-16. The protein insulin consists of two polypeptides termed the A and B chains. Insulins from
different organisms have been isolated and sequenced. Human and duck insulins have the same
amino acid sequence with the exception of six amino acid residues, as shown below. Is the pI of
human insulin lowed than or higher than that of duck insulin? Explain your answer.

Amino acid residue A8 A9 A10 B1 B2 B27

Human Thr Ser Ile Phe Val Thr
Duck Glu Asn Pro Ala Ala Ser

3. 6-7. Calculate the length in angstroms of a 100-residue segment of the  keratin coiled coil.

4. 6-16. Answer the following questions and explain your answers:

a. Is Trp or Gln more likely to be on a protein’s surface?
b. Is Ser or Val less likely to be in a protein’s interior?
c. Is Leu or Ile less likely to be found in a middle of an  helix?
d. Is Cys or Ser more likely to be in a  sheet?

5. 6-19. You can substitute one or more amino acids in a polypeptide by performing site-directed
mutagenesis. Which of each pair of amino acid substitutions listed below would you expect to
disrupt protein structure the most? Explain. (Tips: in order to maintain the function of a folded
protein, the change should be minimal.)
a. Ile replaced by Ala or Phe.
b. Lys replaced by Glu or Arg.
c. Asn replaced by Glu or Gln.
d. Pro replaced by His or Gly.

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BG1131 Molecular Cell Biology for Biomedical Engineers

Table 4-1

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BG1131 Molecular Cell Biology for Biomedical Engineers

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BG1131 Molecular Cell Biology for Biomedical Engineers

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BG1131 Molecular Cell Biology for Biomedical Engineers