(A)Collagen, a strong fibrous protein The Flawless Creation That
Turns Left: Side chain amino acid chain with helix. Top: Side
chain amino acid chain with layer. The amino acid structure of
the protein collagen is seen. As you see, one of each three
amino acids is glycine(gly). Being very small, glycine is the
most suitable amino acid for the structure of collagen. Research
has shown that of the 20 amino acids used in proteins, most are
hydrophobic side chains. Half possess a-helix properties and the
other half, b-layer properties. Examine the properties of these
20 amino acids one by one, and you can understand why they have
been specially selected for proteins. For instance, even
glycine—the smallest and simplest amino acid—has a very
important role to play in collagen, which is one of the most
important proteins. If the three amino acids that comprise
collagen, one is glycine. Its small dimensions play an important
role in the structure of collagen, by permitting the chains
comprising the protein to bind t