The Importance of Protein Dynamics

Abstract

The Webster’s College Dictionarydefines protein as “any of numerous organic molecules constituting a large portion of the mass of every life form, composed of 20 or more amino acids linked in one or more long chains, the final shape and other properties of each protein being determined by the side chains of the amino acids and their chemical attachments.” The term protein derives from the Greek prote, or primary. The primary importance of proteins to tissue structure and function and as a component of the diet has been recognized for more than a century (see Munro 1964a) for a review of nineteenth-century developments that led to modern research in protein metabolism).