Is protein essential for bodily functioning? What are the practical applications of proteins in our activities of daily living? Provide substantial information and supporting statements.

Question

answer in no more than ten sentences the prompt below

Answer 1

Hi Maria!

Proteins are absolutely fundamental to maintain homeostasis in our bodies. It has numerous applications, including membrane transport, reaction catalysis, DNA editing, and many more! One protein in particular that can be discussed is hemoglobin (Hb). Its function is to carry and drop off oxygen from the bloodstream to various target tissues. Hb can change its state from a more oxygen-accepting to a more oxygen-averse state depending on various physiological conditions (pH within the bloodstream, for example). The change in its state is really just a function to expose or shield a reactive histidine residue to allow/inhibit binding to oxygen. What's more, Hb has four subunits to it, meaning four "docking sites" for oxygen; as more oxygen binds to each Hb binding site, the protein's affinity for oxygen increase until all four sites are bound (a process known as positive cooperative binding). A fascinating protein, to say the least. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions.