Protein Synthesis: Specific Proteins Research Assignemnt

Protein Synthesis
Name
Institution
Protein Synthesis
Protein synthesis is a process where individual cells manage to build their specific proteins. In this process, there is the involvement of both deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the function of the ribonucleic acids (RNA). The DNA in the nucleus initiates protein synthesis but the actual protein synthesis occurs in the ribosomes. The DNA has three main components, which are deoxyribose sugar, thymine (T), adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G) nucleotides, and they are double stranded. The RNA molecules are different from the DNA molecules in various ways. They are single stranded, the sugar component is ribose, and they have uracil (U) nucleotides. Given that they have single strands, they do not form helices and instead fold into complex structures (Hershey & Merrick, 2000).
Cells can be categorized through the spectrum of mRNA molecules that they have and this spectrum is known as transcriptome. While every cell in a multicellular organism possesses similar DNA, its transcriptome, however, differs greatly depending with the cell type and function. Proteins have 20 different amino acids and a structure of 3 nucleotides code for every amino acid. Every triplet of nucleotides is known as a codon where the start codon AUG codes the methionine amino acid. The genetic 43=64 has 64 codons and various codons can code for similar amino acid (Protein Synthesis, n.d.).
Transcription is the first step in the protein synthesis. Transcription starts when the enzyme called the RNA polymerase binds to the DNA template strand and this causes a series of nucleotides to assemble and produce the complementary RNA strand. The RNA polymerase and its related transcription factors attach to the DNA strand at a given area that is known as TATA box. When the RNA polymerase and the associated transcription factors are in place, the single-stranded DNA becomes exposed and it is ready for transcription (Buratowski, 1994). Here, the RNA polymerase starts moving down the DNA strand in the 3’ to 5’ direction and this process causes the stringing together of complementary nucleotides. More nucleotides join and a continuous longer chain of nucleotides is formed.
Transcription is where the encoded information found in the DNA is copied to a RNA molecule. This RNA molecule is then transferred to the cytoplasm, which assists in bringing together all the constituents that are necessary for the actual protein synthesis. Further, the RNA copy of the protein genetic information that is encoded in the DNA molecule is generated in the nucleus and it is referred to as m...