Protein secondary structure elements such as α helices and β sheets constitute the major regular folding patterns in proteins. With regard to these elements, …
A) hydrogen-bonding between the amino acid side chains defines the type of secondary structure.
B) a certain short amino acid sequence always adopts the same secondary structure.
C) only a few specific amino acid sequences can adopt these repetitive structures.
D) the folding patterns result from hydrogen-bonding between the N-H and C=O groups in the polypeptide backbone.
E) All of the above.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

It is the repeating hydrogen-bond pattern between backbone atoms that defines each of the secondary structure elements. Many different sequences can adopt each of these structures and, depending on the context, the same sequence may be found in different folding patterns.

Protein Secondary Structure Elements Such as α Helices and β