Insulin is a complex protein that is said to have a quaternary structure - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 12 - 2008 - Paper 1
Question 12
Insulin is a complex protein that is said to have a quaternary structure.
This means that insulin
A. cannot be denatured.
B. lacks disulphide bridges.
C. contains a... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Insulin is a complex protein that is said to have a quaternary structure - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 12 - 2008 - Paper 1
Step 1
A. cannot be denatured.
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Answer
This statement is incorrect. Proteins with quaternary structure can indeed be denatured under certain conditions such as extreme temperature or pH changes.
Step 2
B. lacks disulphide bridges.
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Answer
This statement is also incorrect. Insulin may have disulphide bridges even with a quaternary structure, and its stability often relies on such bridges.
Step 3
C. contains all the known amino acids.
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Answer
This statement is misleading. While insulin does contain several amino acids, it does not contain all known amino acids. This option does not accurately reflect the nature of quaternary structures.
Step 4
D. has more than one polypeptide chain.
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Answer
This statement is correct. A quaternary structure involves the complex formation of multiple polypeptide chains, which is characteristic of insulin's structure.
