Page |1
The Importance of Protein
 Proteins are familiar as one of the
three major types of nutrients abundant
in meats, eggs, and legumes.
 Protein have many diverse functions in
the human body such as enable blood
to clot, form the contractile fibers of
muscle cells, and form the bulk of the
body’s connective tissues.
 The building blocks of protein are
amino acids.
 A protein consist of of one or more long
chains of amino acids are called
polypeptides.
 Shorter chains of amino acids are
called peptides.
Transcription Copies the
Information in DNA
 A cell uses two processes to
manufacture proteins using genetic
instructions:
o Transcription copies DNA
information into RNA.
o Translation uses the
information in RNA to
manufature protein by
aligning and joining specified
amino acids.
 Watson and Crick – published about
the structure of DNA in 1953, they
descriibe the relaionship between
nucleic acids and proeins as a
directional flow of information called
“dogma”.
RNA Structure and Types
 RNA is the bridge between gene and
protein.
 The bases of an RNA sequence are
complementary o those of one strand of
the double helix, which is called the
template strand.
 An enzyme, RNA POLYMERASE, build
an RNA molecule.
CYTOGENETICS REVIEWER | NAVERA JERICO
 The non-template strand of the DNA
bouble helix is called the coding
strand.
 DNA and RNA Differences:
 As RNA is synthesized along DNA,
itfolds into a three-dimensional shape,
or conformation, that arises from
complementary base pairing within the
same RNA molecule.
 Messenger RNA (mRNA) carries the
information that specifies a particular
protein.
o Each set of three
consecutive mRNA bases
forms a genetic code word,
or codon, that specifies a
certain amino acid.
o Most mRNAs are 500 to
4,500 bases long.
o Differentiated cells produce
certain mRNA molecules
called transcripts – the
information in the transcripts
is used to manufacture the
encoded proteins.
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) molecules
range from 100 to nearly 3,000
mucleotides lond.
o It associates with certain
proteins to form a ribosome.
o Ribosomes consist of two
subunits that join during
protein synthesis.

o rRNAs provide structural
support
o Some are catalysts
(rybozymes) and others
help align the ribosome and
mRNA
 Transfer RNA (tRNA), binds an
mRNA codon at one end and a
specific amino acid at the other.
o It is only 75 to 80 nucleotides
long.
o The 2-D shape is a
cloverleaf shape.
o The 3-D shape is an
inverted L
o One loopt of the tRNA has
three bases in a row that
form the anticodon, which is
complementary to an mRNA
codon.
Transcription Factors
 Transcription Factors come together
and interact, forming an apparatus that
binds DNA at certain sequences and
initiates transcription at specific sites on
chromosomes.
 Binding domains are the regions in
transcription factors that guide them to
the genes they control.
o Names of DNA binding
domains:
 Helix-turn-helix
 Zinc Fingers
 Leucine Zippers
 Possible results from “Mutations in
Transcription Factor”:
o Rett Syndrome
o Homeotic Mutations
Steps in Transcription
 The process is called “transcription”,
because it copies the DNA information
into RNA, but keeps the information in
the genetic language of DNA nucleotide
bases.
1. Transcription Initiation
CYTOGENETICS REVIEWER | NAVERA JERICO
Page |2
 Transcription factors and RNA
polymerase are attracted to a
PROMOTER – which is a special
sequence that signals the start of
the gene, like a capital letter at the
start of a sentence.
 The first transcription factor to bind,
called a TATA Binding Protein, is
chemically attracted to a DNA
sequence called a TATA Box – the
base sequence TATA surrounded
by long stretches of G and C.
2. Transcription Elongation
 Enzymes unwind the DNA double
helix locally, and free RNA
nucleotides bond with exposed
complementary bases on the DNA
template strand.
3. Transcription Termination
 A terminator sequence in the DNA
indicates where the gene’s RNA-
encoding region ends, like the
period at the end of a sentence.
 A typical rate of transcription in
humans is 20 bases per second.
RNA Processing
 First, after mRNA is transcribed, a short
sequence of modified nucleotides, alled
a cap, is added to the 5’ end of the
molecule.
o The cap is consist of
backwardly inserted Guanine
(G), which attracts enzyme
that adds methyl groups
(CH3) to the G and one or
two adjacent nucleotides.
 The Poly A Tail isnecessary for protein
synthesis to begin, and may also
stabilize the mRNA so that it stays
intact longer.
 Parts of mRNA called introns (short for
“intervening sequences”) that were
transcribed are removed.
o Introns control their own
removal
 Page |3

 The parts of mRNA that remain and are  The correspondence between the
translated into amino acid sequences chemical languages of mRNA and
(protein) are calle exons, protein is the genetic code.
 Prior to intron removal, the mRNA is
called Pre-mRNA.
 Four snupr/ small nuclear
ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) form a
structure called a spliceosome hat
cuts introns out and attaches exons to
each other to form the mature mRNA
that exits the nucleus.
 At first, some geneticist called introns
“junk DNA” – a term that has
unfortunately persisted even as
researches have discovered the
functons of many introns.
 Different combinations of exons of a
gene encode different versions of the
protein product, termed isoforms.
 The mechanism of combining exons of
a gene in different ways is called
alternate splicing.

The Genetic Code

Before researchers could match mRNA
codons to the amino acids they encode,
Translation of Protein

CYTOGENETICS REVIEWER | NAVERA JERICO


they had to esteblish certain requirements
for such a code:
1. The Code is Triplet
2. The Code Does Not Overlap
3. The Code Includes Controls
4. The Code is the Same in All Species
 Reading frame is the sequence of
amino acids encoded from a certain
startin point in DNA sequence.
 The codon AUG signals “start”
 The codons UGA, UAA, and UAG
signify “stop”
 A sequence of DNA that does not
include a stop codon is called an open
reading frame.
Protein Folding and Misfolding
 Another form of “punctuation” in the
genetic code is a short sequence of
bases at the start of each mRNA that
enables the mRNA to form hydrogen
bnds with rRNA in a ribosome which is
called a leader sequence.
 Different codons that specify the same
amino acid are termed synonymous
codons – just as synonyms are words
with the same meaning.
 Codons that encode different amino
acids are called nonsynonymous
codons.
Protein Folding and Misfolding
Building a Protein
 Methionine (AUG) signifies the start of
polypeptide.
 The P ("peptide”) site holds the
growing aino acid chain, and the A
(“acceptor”) site next to it holds the
next amino acid to be added to the
chain.
Processing a Protein
The conformation of a protein is
described at several levels:
CYTOGENETICS REVIEWER | NAVERA JERICO
Page |4
 The amino acid sequence of a
polypeptide chain is its primary (1°)
structure.
 Chemical attractions between amino
acids that are close together in 1°
structure fold the polypeptide chain
into its secondary (2°) structure.
 Secondary structures wind into
larger tertiary (3°) structures as
more widely separated amino acids
attract or repel in reponse to water
molecules.
 Finally, proteins consisting of more
than one polypeptide form a
quarternary (4°) structure.
 Chaperon proteins stabilize
partially folded regions in their
correct form, and prevent a protein
form getting “stuck” in a useless
intermediate form.
 A misfolded rotein bearing just one
ubiquitin tag may straighten and
refold correctly, but a protein with
more than one tag is taken to
another cellular machine called a
proteasome.
 An infectous protein is called a
prion.
 Page |5

CYTOGENETICS REVIEWER | NAVERA JERICO