How Proteins Play a Major Role In Our Body
As we discussed in our previous 2 articles, genes are sequences built up of amino acids which play huge roles towards developing proteins within the body. From alzheimer’s disease to lactose intolerance, many diseases within the body are caused as a result of the malfunctioning of a specific protein in a specific group of cells in a specific region of the body. The reason for this is because proteins are the most significant parts of cells as they conduct biochemical reactions, move around certain compounds needed within the cell as well as maintain the structure of the cell. Now in order to be more specific and to learn more about specific proteins and how they influence us, down below are three different proteins and how they function within our bodies in order to keep us alive. They include the proteins: Globulins, Kinases and Lactases.
Globulins is a major classification of proteins which can be further classified into three categories of globulins. These include alpha, beta and gamma globulins which all play a role towards a specific task within the body. The alpha globulins are a group of proteins which are found in the blood and produced by the liver. In the realm of alpha globulins, we can further classify into alpha 1 and alpha 2 globulins which only have slight chemical composition differences. When it comes to the alpha globulin and what it does within the body, it is responsible for carrying hormones, cholesterol and copper throughout the bloodstream and also acts as an enzyme for certain biochemical reactions. Also alpha globulin can act as an enzyme which stops the actions of other enzymes. For instance, when thrombin starts to convert fibrinogen to fibrin, this causes a blood clot to occur so in order to stop thrombin from doing that conversion, is where an alpha globulin comes into play.
Another type of globulin is beta globulin which are also blood proteins with similar chemical structures to alpha globulins. Beta globulins have two types: beta 1 globulins and beta 2 globulins which are structurally different slightly, however they both perform the same task of carrying lipids, hormones and cholesterol through the bloodstream and assisting immune cells in creating an immune response against invading pathogens as well as bacteria.
The last type of globulins that we have discovered to this day is gamma globulines and they are blood proteins within the body that serve to help the immune system fight against bacteria and pathogens. They are commonly referred to as immunoglobulins or antibodies. Gamma globulins have three different types which include IgM(immunoglobulin M), IgA(immunoglobulin A) and IgG(immunoglobulin G). In specific to IgM, they are the largest of the immunoglobulins and are produced the first time a virus, bacteria or antigen tries to invade the body basically acting as the first line of defense for the immune system. Next is IgG which is highest in amount throughout the body in comparison to other immunoglobulins and is found in every fluid within the body. IgG is produced by plasma cells and helps in identifying invading bacteria, viruses and antigens, overall playing a crucial role in mounting an immune response. Finally we have IgA which is produced within the mucus membranes inside of plasma cells in order to help protect the respiratory and digestive tracts. Additionally, IgA is able to prevent bacteria, viruses and other antigen types from attaching to surfaces within the body and getting into the bloodstream as it is able to neutralize invading compounds.
Kinases are enzymes(large and complex proteins) which add phosphate groups (PO4–3) to other molecules which is an important step in many biochemical reactions. When it comes to the human genome, over 500 kinase-encoding genes exist within it, as kinase enzymes come in many different types and have a lot of significance to the human body. In terms of phosphate group addition (phosphorylation) for kinases, their targets include proteins, lipids and even nucleic acids which make up our DNA as within the structure of DNA a phosphate group is required. For protein targets, kinases can only phosphorylate the amino acids of serin, threonine and tyrosine. This phosphorylation in proteins plays a major role in cell signaling due to phosphorylated and unphosphorylated of the protein that is being targeted can have different levels of activity. Moving on, phosphorylation of lipid molecules is important for controlling the molecular composition of membranes within cells as the phosphorylation helps to specify physical and chemical properties of the membranes. Lastly, the process we call glycolysis (metabolism of dietary sugars) involves different steps of phosphorylation by unique kinases which ultimately lead to ATP(adenosine triphosphate) which is a high energy compound used by the body.
Lactase enzymes are transmembrane proteins located in the lipid bilayer membrane in the intestinal epithelial cells. In specific to the function of this enzyme, this enzyme binds to double sugar lactose and cleaves it in ways where glucose and galactose is formed. This glucose and galactose are then absorbed by the intestinal epithelial tissue from where they are transported into the bloodstream. Lactase is an essential enzyme needed when digesting any dietary product since with low quantities of it which is the case in lactose intolerance, lactose is not broken down and travels into the large intestine where multiple issues from diarrhea to dehydration are caused. In all mammals and 65% of humans, the lactase enzyme stops to be created within the body at massive rates after weaning as it is inefficient for the body to create an enzyme that will not be used since adult humans as well as mammals most often stop eating dairy products.
To conclude, after exploring three types of proteins within the human body and how much of a significant role they play, it is evident that proteins are very important biological molecules and play many roles within our bodies.
