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Polypeptide facts for kids

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Tetrapeptide structural formulae v.1
A tetrapeptide (example Val-Gly-Ser-Ala) with green marked amino end (L-Valine) and blue marked carboxyl end (L-Alanine).

A polypeptide is a string of amino acids linked together. Amino acids are the basic building blocks of proteins. A single polypeptide chain might make up the entire primary structure of a simple protein; more complex proteins are formed when two or more polypeptides link together.

Polypeptides are made when mRNA is translated, a process involving ribosomes, tRNA and amino acids.

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