Description of Project For this project my group and I chose a disease caused by lack of protein or protein in the body and systems involved. For our project we decided to research Alzheimer's disease which can affect the carrier by making them partially lose awareness and memory. This is caused because of excess amounts of protein which in turn causes plaques to build up between brain cells preventing the ability to send signals throughout the brain. We looked at how protein folding works and how it affects people through a variety of diseases. To present this research we created a poster that showed information about our disease and how it relates to protein. Overall I learned a lot about Alzheimer's during this project and had fun while doing it.
Content DNA - Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the carrier of genetic information. DNA is located inside the nucleus and is the genetic 'code' that determines genes. DNA relates to protein synthesis because it is what mRNA is copied from.
mRNA - mRNA (messenger RNA) is a type of RNA that caries information. A mRNA molecule carries a specific sequence of DNA outside the nucleus into the cytoplasm for processing. mRNA is created during transcription, when a section of DNA is copied into an mRNA strand by a RNA polymerase. For protein synthesis, the mRNA contains the codons that match with anti-codons which create the polypeptide chains.
tRNA - tRNA are the small RNA molecules which carry amino acids to ribosomes to create polypeptide chains. During translation, when the anti-codons of tRNA match the codons of the mRNA attached to the ribosome, the amino acid attached to the tRNA are added to the growing polypeptide chain. tRNA molecules affect protein synthesis because they bring the amino acids which create polypeptide chains, which form the proteins (in my case, the protein was Amyloid Precursor Protein)
Transcription - Transcription is the process of copying the information of a DNA sequence into an mRNA strand. This involves a RNA polymerase attaching to the specific part of the DNA strand, unwinding it, copying one end, and then rewinding the DNA back. This new mRNA strand leaves the nucleus and then finds a ribosome to initiate translation.
Translation - Translation is the step following transcription in protein synthesis. Once the mRNA attaches to the ribosome, tRNA (transfer RNA) molecules start to bring in amino acids and create the polypeptide chains. The polypeptide chains are sequences of amino acids, which are determined by the code of the anti-codons of the tRNA which match the codons of the mRNA
Codons/Anti-Codons - Codons are triplet sequences on mRNA that code for a specific amino acid. Each different arrangement of 3 of the base nucleotides of RNA (U,A,C,G) calls for a different amino acid. Anti-codons are what tRNA molecules use to match up with the mRNA, giving the right amino acid to the polypeptide chain. The nucleotides of the anti-codons and the codons form pairs, allowing the right amino acid to be identified and passed on to the chain.
Amino Acids - Amino acids are simple organic compounds. Every amino acid has the same structure, 1 amino group, 1 carboxyl group, 1 carbon, 1 hydrogen, and 1 side-chain. The side-chain is what differs in each amino acid, creating the 20 different types.
Polypeptide Chain - Polypeptide chains are chains of many amino acids, held by amide bonds. These polypeptide chains are what create proteins.
Ribosome - Ribosomes are small cellular compounds. They are comprised of ribosomal RNA and many proteins, and are formed by a larger subunit and a smaller subunit. Ribosomes exist in large numbers in the cytoplasm of the cell and in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Their job is to create polypeptide chains.
Folding - Protein folding is the process of taking the polypeptide chains and folding them into domains, which are then folded into proteins. All proteins are formed of polypeptide chains, and the function of the protein is affected by how the chains fold into the 3D protein structure.
Protein - Proteins are large macromolecules which are comprised of polypeptide chains. They perform a vast array of functions inside a cell, including catalyzing reactions, acting as messengers, creating structures, and transport and storage.
Reflection Over the course of this project there were many ups and downs that I learned. One up was that I learned about protein synthesis and how it works. Protein synthesis is a complex process that involves many different parts of the cell and includes steps such as transcription, translation. and folding. Another positive that usually is not a positive that my group experienced was time management. When it comes to four teenage boys working on a project, time management is usually not the strong point. A down that my group came across was the fact that we didn't have a full understanding of protein synthesis. Looking back on this project, my group could have made a greater effort to fully understand protein synthesis with the free time we had from finishing early. My group's second negative was that we didn't always stay on task especially when we were done with the project and had a bit of extra time. We could have made some improvements to the poster or worked on something else related to the project.