Question #75ec3
1 Answer
The interaction in tertiary structure is not van der Waals force.
Explanation:
Tertiary stuructures of protein molecules are formed by interaction between two amino acid side chains, including:
(a) disulfide bonds (-S-S-) between cysteine residues
(b) hydrophobic interaction between hydrophobic groups.
(c) hydrogen bonds (H・・・O)
(d) ionic bonds
A hydrophobic interaction(lower right), hydorogen bonds (upper right and lower left)and an ionic bond(upper left) are shown in the figure below.
)
In general, these interactions are not considered to be van der Waals forces. The most important interaction in tertiary structure is hydrophobic interaction, but it is not an electrostatic effect(=van der Waals force) but an entropic effect.
Here is a previous question on Socratic:
How would you explain the difference between van der Waals interactions and hydrophobic interactions?
https://socratic.org/questions/how-would-you-explain-the-difference-between-van-der-waals-interactions-and-hydr
