Peptide

Short chains of between two and fifty amino acids, linked by peptide bonds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Peptides (from Ancient Greek πεπτός (peptós) 'digested', from πέσσειν (péssein) 'to digest') are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds.[1][2] A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain.[3] Polypeptides which have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins.[4] Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides.

Tetrapeptide_structural_formulae_v.1.png
A tetrapeptide (example Val-Gly-Ser-Ala) with green marked amino end (L-valine) and
blue marked carboxyl end (L-alanine)

Peptides fall under the broad chemical classes of biological polymers and oligomers, alongside nucleic acids, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and others.

Proteins consist of one or more polypeptides arranged in a biologically functional way, often bound to ligands such as coenzymes and cofactors, to another protein or other macromolecule such as DNA or RNA, or to complex macromolecular assemblies.[5]

Amino acids that have been incorporated into peptides are termed residues. A water molecule is released during formation of each amide bond.[6] All peptides except cyclic peptides have an N-terminal (amine group) and C-terminal (carboxyl group) residue at the end of the peptide (as shown for the tetrapeptide in the image).