Molecular Biology Practice Test: Protein Synthesis — Flashcards

Protein Synthesis topics include: Protein synthesis overview, amino acids chains, cells decoding machine, three possible reading frames exist, tRNA occupies three sites during elongation of the polypeptide, protein synthesis mistranslation, proteins post translational modifications and degradation.

Protein synthesis is the process of creating protein molecules. 

It involves the following steps:
Amino acid synthesis: A set of biochemical processes that produce amino acids from carbon sources like glucose
Transcription: The transfer of genetic instructions in DNA to mRNA in the nucleus
Translation: The process of translating the genetic code transcribed in mRNA into an amino acid sequence
Post-translational events 

The major steps of protein synthesis are:
Activation of amino acids
Transfer of amino acids to tRNA
Initiation of polypeptide chain
Chain termination
Protein translocation 

Ribosomes are the cell organelles that are involved in protein synthesis. They have RNA and proteins that help in converting genetic code into proteins. 

Here are some other details about protein synthesis:
Transcription: This process copies the template from one strand of the DNA double helix, called the template strand.
Elongation: This is a key step of protein synthesis, during which the nascent polypeptide chain extends by one amino acid residue during one elongation cycle.
Polysomes: Many ribosomes can bind to a single mRNA at the same time to form polysomes that can rapidly synthesize many copies of the peptide.
Proteins: Proteins perform a number of critical functions as enzymes, structural proteins or hormones.