- The Building Blocks
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Put very simplistically, our genes tell our bodies which ones to put into the proteins that we make, and it is the proteins that make up the significant constituents of our bodies. Myelin Basic Protein (MBP) is an example of one such protein.
In order to understand how they are glued together to make proteins, we must look at the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that is present in almost all the cells in our bodies.
DNA is built up of many sub-units called neucleotides, each of which contains a chemical "base". There are only four different bases and thus only four different nucleotides. The four bases are adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G).
Genes are sections of DNA, in which the neucleotides are viewed in groups of three called "triplets" or "codons". Each codon "codes" for a particular amino acid. A gene is terminated by a stop code or terminator which is represented by one of three codons that do not code for amino acids.
There are 20 different amino acids that are used in animals (there are others that are used in plants). There are 64 different codons and most of the 20 amino acids are coded by more than one triplet.
The process of synthesizing amino acids from genes is known as transcription. During transcription, a gene is echoed from the DNA into a complementary form called ribonucleic acid (RNA).
From the RNA, they are produced and are joined with one another with a peptide bond. The resulting sequence of aminos is known as peptide string or polypeptide. Proteins are derived from these polypeptides.
Before taking any nutritional supplement, please consult your health care provider first.
