College of Nursing

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY

Name: Nathaniel D. Cajayon Score: ______________

Yr. & Section: BSN 1-2 Date: September 3, 2023
Area/Concept: : Anaphy - Protein

1. Briefly discuss the scenario / events / reading.

Proteins are composed of chains of small building blocks called “Amino Acids”.
An amino acid is made up of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and there are some
that has sulfur. Additionally, there are hydrophobic, hydrophilic and charged amino
acids. There are 21 amino acids in a protein. The protein’s structure is divided into the
primary, secondary, tertiary, and quartenary structure. The primary structure is the
precise order in which amino acids are joined together by a peptide bond that are
encoded by the DNA. The two most typical forms of secondary structures are the alpha
helices and beta sheets which have a helical or sheet-like structure, are sustained by
hydrogen bonds that develop between the amino acids. The tertiary structure is a
protein's distinctive three-dimensional shape, which is due to the characteristics of the
amino acids that make up the chain. The quaternary structure describes how several
protein subunits are arranged and how they interact to create a useful protein complex.
A protein's distinct structure and function are determined by the three-dimensional
arrangement of these amino acids. Lastly, there are 6 different functions, and those
functions are defense, communication, enzymes, transportation, storage and structure.

2. How do you feel about it? (You may include comments and conclusions)
I see proteins like a jigsaw puzzle, not the two-dimensional ones that you just lay
flat on the floor but the three-dimensional ones because of how they similarly fold and
have a three-dimensional structure. Each pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are like amino acids.
The primary structure of the protein is formed by linking each of these amino acids in a
certain order.Proteins perform specialized tasks within cells or larger organisms thanks
to their three-dimensional structure. Enzymes, for example, speed up chemical
reactions much to how putting together a puzzle brings an image together. The way
amino acids fold and interact defines the structure and function of proteins, much as the
placement of jigsaw pieces dictates the final image.

3. What have you learned from it?

All living things contain proteins, which are essential components needed in
several biological processes. There are 21 amino acids contained in protein, and these
are the building blocks of these big, complicated molecules. That a protein has 4
different structure and how each of them differ from one another. And by using
diagrams, we are able to properly observe the protein’s structure and functions. Lastly,
their functions also depends on their three-dimensional shapes.

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