3.4: Quaternary Structure

Basic Cell and Molecular Biology · LibreTexts

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    Quaternary structure describes a protein composed of two or more polypeptides. Like tertiary structure, multimeric polypeptide are formed by the same kinds of non-covalent interactions and may be stabilized disulfide bonds. Specifically, a dimer contains two, a trimer three, a tetramer four polypeptides… and so on. Multimers made up of identical subunits are referred to with a prefix of "homo-" (e.g. a homotetramer). Those made up of different subunits are heteromers. The vertebrate hemoglobin molecule, consisting of two a- and two b- globins (shown below) is a heterotetramer.

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    This page titled 3.4: Quaternary Structure was last modified on Sun, 03 Jan 2021 21:47:45 GMT and is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gerald Bergtrom via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.