Protein Folding, Chaperones and What Misfolding Costs · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

How chains find their shape

Science · Biochemistry & Molecular Biology · ages 18-19
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What do chaperones do?

    • Carry the folding blueprint
    • Block wrong contacts and shield sticky patches
    • Break the weak bonds of the fold

  2. Where is the folding information stored?

    • The chaperone
    • The amino acid sequence
    • The aggregates

  3. Misfolded chains clump into aggregates that poison cells. True or false?

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. What happens in denaturation?

    • The sequence is rewritten
    • Chaperones multiply
    • Heat snaps weak bonds and unravels the chain

  5. Diseases like Alzheimer and prion illnesses trace back to what?

    • A missing gene product
    • The wrong shape that clusters
    • Too many chaperones

  6. How does a chain search for its working shape?

    • A chaperone led tour
    • A fixed step by step recipe
    • A tumble down the free energy funnel

  7. Why is a chaperone still needed if the sequence holds the whole plan?

    • Sequences cannot fold at all
    • Chaperones rewrite the sequence
    • Chains would glom onto neighbours without shielding

  8. Why does a boiled egg never turn runny again?

    • Heat scrambled white proteins into a tangled mat
    • The egg gains new genes
    • Chaperones rebuilt the whites
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_n9rlqjbaXK-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

How chains find their shape W1-mt_n9rlqjbaXK-s1

  1. Block wrong contacts and shield sticky patches · They keep chains apart while folding, adding no information.
  2. The amino acid sequence · The sequence is the blueprint, so the same chain folds the same way.
  3. True · Nerve cells clear the clumps badly, so they pile up and harm tissue.
  4. Heat snaps weak bonds and unravels the chain · Broken weak bonds undo the fold, and function is usually lost.
  5. The wrong shape that clusters · The protein is present in normal amounts but folded into a clustering form.
  6. A tumble down the free energy funnel · It tries shapes and keeps lower energy ones until it settles.
  7. Chains would glom onto neighbours without shielding · The plan is complete but sticky chains need guarding while they fold.
  8. Heat scrambled white proteins into a tangled mat · Denaturation tangles the proteins permanently, like harmful aggregation.
Worksheet · LightMySky