Alpha chain
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry:
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alpha chain
or α chain
- the heavy chain of IgA immunoglobulin molecules.
- one of the two types of polypeptide chain present in normal adult hemoglobin (Hb A) molecules.
| alpha cell, alpha carbon atom, alpha MEM | |
| alpha complementation, alpha effect, alpha globulin |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Alpha chain
The term 'alpha chain is nortmally used to indicate one of the subunits of a multi-subunit protein. The term 'chain' is a general term giving to any peptide sequence. It can often refer more specifically to mean:
- a part of the T-cell receptor,
- the Fibrinogen alpha chain,
- the integrin alpha chain,
- Hemoglobin, alpha 1
It should be distinguished from the term alpha helix, which refers to one of the common secondary structure found in proteins, along with beta sheet.
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Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry
Oxford University Press. Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology © 1997, 2000, 2006 All rights reserved.
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