N-terminal end
From Free net encyclopedia
The N-terminal end (also known as the N-terminus, N-terminal domain or amine-terminus) refers to the extremity of a protein or polypeptide terminated by an amino acid with a free amine group (-NH2).
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Chemistry
Each amino acid has a carboxyl group and an amine group, and amino acids link to one another to form a chain by a dehydration reaction by joining the amine group of one amino acid to the carboxyl group of the next. Thus polypeptide chains have an end with an unbound carboxyl group, the C-terminus, and an end with an amine group, the N-terminus.
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