Protein Synthesis
This project had us looking at diseases caused by protein misfolding, and specifically why they occur and what they can do. Each group got to pick one disease to research and do their presentation on, and my group ended up choosing diabetes type II as our disease to analyze. For the final presentation, we were required to understand our disease, protein synthesis, and how each of these apply to our disease.
Concepts:
Protein Synthesis: The 3 step process by which genetic code is transformed into a protein
Transcription: The first step of protein synthesis, which involves the DNA being split, and a section of bases being copied onto an mRNA(messenger RNA) strand, which is then moved to the cytoplasm for translation
Translation: As the second step of protein synthesis, translation sees the mRNA's bases being translated into a polypeptide chain
Folding: The final step of protein synthesis, folding is the step that turns the polypeptide chain into a protein, which is released from the cell to do its intended task
Nucleotide Bases: The base component of both DNA and RNA, there are five different bases, and here I will refer to them as G, C, A, T, and U. Ts are only in DNA, and Us are only in RNA. Gs always bind to Cs, and As bind to either Ts or Us.
Polypeptide Chain: A chain of amino acids
Codon: A set of three bases that codes for an amino acid
Anti-codon: The codon that would match a codon on an mRNA strand; used in tRNA(transfer RNA) to bring the correct amino acid
Misfolding: If anything goes wrong at any point during protein synthesis, the final protein will be different than the intended protein. This can cause multiple bad things to happen, such as the protein staying in the cell, taking up space, and killing the cell. However, a larger issue is that the body might not a the correct sequence in the first place, making it impossible to make that protein.
Protein Deficiency: In the example of diabetes type II, the body is incapable of making insulin, so the person has to have external supplements
Protein Synthesis: The 3 step process by which genetic code is transformed into a protein
Transcription: The first step of protein synthesis, which involves the DNA being split, and a section of bases being copied onto an mRNA(messenger RNA) strand, which is then moved to the cytoplasm for translation
Translation: As the second step of protein synthesis, translation sees the mRNA's bases being translated into a polypeptide chain
Folding: The final step of protein synthesis, folding is the step that turns the polypeptide chain into a protein, which is released from the cell to do its intended task
Nucleotide Bases: The base component of both DNA and RNA, there are five different bases, and here I will refer to them as G, C, A, T, and U. Ts are only in DNA, and Us are only in RNA. Gs always bind to Cs, and As bind to either Ts or Us.
Polypeptide Chain: A chain of amino acids
Codon: A set of three bases that codes for an amino acid
Anti-codon: The codon that would match a codon on an mRNA strand; used in tRNA(transfer RNA) to bring the correct amino acid
Misfolding: If anything goes wrong at any point during protein synthesis, the final protein will be different than the intended protein. This can cause multiple bad things to happen, such as the protein staying in the cell, taking up space, and killing the cell. However, a larger issue is that the body might not a the correct sequence in the first place, making it impossible to make that protein.
Protein Deficiency: In the example of diabetes type II, the body is incapable of making insulin, so the person has to have external supplements
Project:
Here are those text boxes zoomed in
Protein Synthesis of Insulin:
First transcription happens in the nucleus. Then mRNA goes into the cytoplasm for translation. 110 amino acids with 24 signal peptide amino acids are reproduced with the help of RNA polymerase. The signal peptides allow passage into the ER for folding. Once folded, they go through the Golgi Apparatus and to their pathways to start doing their job. Insulin binds to receptors when produced, the receptors send a signal to the cell to start picking glucose in the blood.
How the Protein Misfolds:
Sometimes there are mutations in the genes that causes B-sheets in the pancreas to die. This reduces the amount of insulin able to fold. The insulin protein can also be misfolded. This can happen when unregulated amounts of sugar is released into the bloodstream and stresses out the ER’s production of insulin. This stress can cause the mis-folding of insulin. Misfolded insulin is where insulin binds receptors to the cell, but the signal is never sent to start picking up glucose. Therefore high blood sugar ensues.
What is Type 2 Diabetes:
Type 2 diabetes is a genetic disorder within the insulin that causes high blood-sugar. This disease affects your blood vessels and nerves. It can be caused by the lack of exercise or obesity. This disease can lead to heart disease, stroke, and diabetic retinopathy. Insulin interjections help even out the amount of sugar in the bloodstream.
Reflection
At the very beginning of this project, every group made a Gantt chart, in which we outlined every task we needed to complete and when it had to be done by for us to have everything done. While other groups found this to be a waste of time, my group and I found it very useful for organizing ourselves. In hindsight, there are of course a few things I would've liked to change. I feel like it would have been beneficial to our entire group if we each did a piece of each section, instead of each taking one large piece and working alone on it. This would allow us to each have greater knowledge on the project overall. We should have also left a lot more time to practice our presentation, as we ended up with a lot of information on our poster, but a lacking explanation of said information. Looking at the brighter side of things, our team had very good chemistry, and we worked very well together. We were able to get a lot done in the time we had and I believe that that is largely due to the fact that we could effectively and efficiently communicate to each other ideas that we had come up with. Finally, our group very successfully used our Gantt chart to its full potential. We spent the entire first day on making it, which involved listing everything we'd need to do, figuring out how long everything would take, working out who would do what, and then fitting everything together so no one was doing two things at the same time, and everyone felt confident that they could complete the task they were given in the time that they were allotted. Going through this entire process helped us out a lot, and although it took a large chunk of time at the start, it payed off even bigger in the end.