Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-8-2022

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Saumen Chakraborty

Second Advisor

Susan Pedigo

Third Advisor

Amala Dass

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Protein structure is directly related to protein function. There are four levels of protein structure: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. The interactions amongst the structural components of a protein give rise to its unique characteristics. The four helix bundle motif is a common structural trait in a variety of binuclear proteins. In this study, PyMOL, a molecular visualization system, was used to analyze binuclear proteins that possess a four helix bundle. Images of proteins containing dicopper, diiron, and dimanganese sites were captured. The images were compiled into figures for each individual protein. After creating the figures, each protein was further researched in order to better understand its unique functions and traits. Multiple functionally similar proteins analyzed in this study share one common structural trait: a four helix bundle. Alternatively, some other proteins expressing this motif differed in function. Because of this, more studies should be conducted in order to determine the mechanism by which the presence of a four helix bundle affects protein function.

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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