Question

What is denaturation and what causes denaturation in proteins?

Answer 1

Denaturation in proteins is when a protein's secondary, tertiary, and (possibly) quaternary structures (which are held together by weak hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, etc.) are disrupted. However, the protein's primary structure remains intact (since the stronger peptide bonds are less likely to be broken).

Factors like heat can disrupt the bonds that make up the secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures (because of an increase in kinetic energy). pH can also affect them (especially when the protein has amino acids with positively or negatively charged side change), changing the structure, as well as hydrophobic interactions which may disrupt other hydrophobic interactions in the existing protein structures (among others).

Hope this helps!