Proteins Proteins are polymers of amino acids. While there are hundreds of thousands of different proteins that exist in nature, they are all made up of different combinations of just 20 amino acids. Proteins are large molecules that may consist of hundreds, or even thousands of amino acids. This R group can be simply an H atom, as in the amino acid glycine, or a more complex organic structure. When 2 amino acids bond together, the OH group highlighted in red above is released from one amino acid, and the H atom highlighted in red is released from a second amino acid.
Proteins serve many purposes in the body.
Structural proteins such as keratin and collagen are the main ingredients in your hair, muscles, tendons and skin and help give structure to the body. In addition to adding structure, other proteins perform a wide range of functions in the human body. Amylase is a protein that helps your body digest starch, the protein hemoglobin is responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood stream, insulin helps regulate the storage of glucose in the body and the list goes on and on. There are an estimated 100,000 different proteins in the human body alone. Each has a different structure and performs a different function in the body.