The word protein was derived by Jöns J. Berzelius in 1938 from the Greek word proteios meaning "of the first rank" to emphasize the importance of this class of molecules.
Protein plays a part in almost all biological processes. Seven functions mark their importance.
- Enzymatic catalysis describes the importance of enzymes in being catalyst for chemical reactions (increasing reactions by million folds!).
- Transport and storage of macromolecules and ions.
- Coordinated motion such as muscle contraction produced by sliding motion in two types of protein filaments.
- Mechanical support given to skin by proteins such as collagen allowing high tensile strength of skin.
- Immune protection by antibodies which are very specific proteins that recognize and combine with foreign substances.
- Generation and transmission of nerve impulses in which receptor proteins mediates responses of nerve cells.
- Control of growth and differentiation which involves controlled sequential expressions of genetic information to produce orderly growth and differentiation of cells.
To determine the structure of a protein, scientists use X-ray crystallography, a process in which they crystallize the protein and use an X-ray crystallography to determine the three dimensional structure on an atomic level.
Marta de Menezes produced a work around this process using here name which luckely is portugese and there for very long. Characters of her name are made to represents aminoacids. In a previous work she got the protein assigned and named. Currently she is in the process of synthezing the protein and crystalizing this protein. This allows her to then x-ray and extract the three dimensional structure.