Proteins: More Than Just Weight Training Supplements!

Those who want to build big muscles eat protein… but in fact everyone eats protein! Protein helps our bodies make antibodies as well as hemoglobin (what our red blood cells use to carry oxygen). Even our hair is made of protein! But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Every second, in every one of our cells, tens of millions of proteins are hard at work. They are like tiny robots that perform all sorts of tasks inside our bodies… and everywhere around us too!

Let us show you! Read on and learn about three surprising ways proteins are working in your everyday life, which you can also explore online in the new educational game called ENZYMO.

What's a Protein?

Proteins are made of amino acids. Think of them as LEGO™ blocks assembled into mini robots that perform innumerable tasks!

Digesting Food

Our bodies digest protein for its nutritional value, but proteins also digest the food in our digestive tract. These types of proteins are called enzymes. They are like tiny little scissors that cut up food into smaller and smaller pieces... until they are small enough to be absorbed by our intestines.

You can find enzymes at the grocery store! Powdered meat tenderizers contain enzymes that help you marinate whatever you like throwing on the grill!

Digesting Dirt on Our Clothes

Our digestive system and our washing machine have a lot in common! The dirt and stains on our clothes get cleaned thanks to the machine’s mechanical action (clothes rubbing against each other and against the walls of the washing machine) and thanks to the chemical action of our laundry soap and its enzymes. Some Quebec- and Canadian-based businesses, like Lavo, Sani-Marc and Innuscience, use enzymes in their soaps that are a lot like those found in our digestive system. Sounds futuristic, but this approach is far from new.

In 1913, German researcher Otto Röhm patented the use of a special digestive enzyme in his laundry soap. The enzyme came from… a pig’s pancreas! 

Today’s laundry soaps don’t use enzymes from pigs anymore. You’re more likely to find microbial enzymes in your laundry soap, which are found in all sorts of places in the environment. For example, one of these enzymes was discovered in Antarctica… under about 4 metres of perennial ice!

One enzyme that comes from yeast works really well when washing clothes in cold water, which lets us save on hot water and energy when doing laundry.

Digesting (and Recycling) Plastic Pollutants?

Every year, tens of millions of tons of plastic are released into the environment and when it comes to polyethylene terephthalate (also known as PET, PETE, or Plastic # 1), we’re talking over 70 million tons released every year in the form of containers and clothing. That’s the equivalent to the weight of 14 million elephants! The problem is that PETE takes hundreds of years to decompose.

Scientists at McGill University in Montréal and elsewhere around the world have discovered enzymes that “digest” PETE plastic and break it back down into its original ingredients. Carbios, a France-based business, thinks that these ingredients could let us make new plastic bottles from old ones. The technology is not quite there yet in terms of mass production, but it’s looking good!

Proteins: Food for Thought

While we let you digest all this information, we’ll leave you with a few protein names that might sound somewhat familiar!

Draculin: a protein found in the saliva of vampire bats that prevents blood from clotting.

Homer1: a protein active in the human brain… even Homer Simpson’s brain!

Pikachurin: a protein found in our eyes, our retinas to be exact. It works at lightning speed!

Proof that proteins are truly EVERYWHERE.

To learn more about proteins, play the online game ENZYMO – Proteins with Muscle presented by the Montréal Science Centre and the PROTEO research group. Play and explore the many ways protein is part of your daily life! You’ll be surprised! And who knows? The experience just might give you a craving for protein! www.enzymo.ca

About PROTEO

PROTEO research group includes 500 scientists from 13 institutions. It leads research on protein function, protein engineering, and protein applications.

Sources

Proteins in Our Cells

● Drinjakovic, J., & University of Toronto. (2018). A cell holds 42 million protein molecules, scientists reveal. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180117131202.htm

● Milo, R. (2013). What is the total number of protein molecules per cell volume? A call to rethink some published values. Bioessays, 35(12), 1050‑1055. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201300066

Enzymes in Our Digestive Tract

● Les processus digestifs. (n.d.). Alloprof. https://www.alloprof.qc.ca/fr/eleves/bv/sciences/les-processus-digestifs-s1256

Enzymes in Detergents

● Dybdahl Hede, P. (2020). A beginner’s guide to enzymes in detergents. Novozymes. https://biosolutions.novozymes.com/en/dish/insights/article/beginners-guide-enzymes-detergents

● Fat-dissolving enzyme for detergents debuts. (1988). Chemical & Engineering News Archive, 66(6), 6. https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-v066n006.p006a

● Vojcic, L., Pitzler, C., Körfer, G., Jakob, F., Ronny Martinez, Maurer, K.-H., & Schwaneberg, U. (2015). Advances in protease engineering for laundry detergents. New Biotechnology, 32(6), 629‑634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2014.12.010

● Enzymes, directed evolution, and the science of clean laundry—STAT. (n.d.). https://www.statnews.com/sponsor/2018/02/22/clean-laundry-enzyme-science/

Recycling Plastic With Enzymes

● Guillemette, M. (2019). Recycler les molécules plutôt que les bouteilles—Québec Science. Québec Science. https://www.quebecscience.qc.ca/environnement/recycler-molecules-plutot-que-bouteilles/

● Un nouveau cocktail d’enzymes digère six fois plus rapidement le plastique | L’ennemi plastique | Radio-Canada.ca. (2020). https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1738244/cocktail-enzymes-digestion-plastique

● Phillip Broadwith. (2023). Recycling plastic with enzymes. Chemistry World. https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/recycling-plastic-with-enzymes/4017604.article

Strange and Unusual Proteins

● Fouchard, R. (2022). Mythe du vampire : De l’être humain à la créature de la nuit. Science et vie. https://www.science-et-vie.com/chroniques-paralleles/mythe-du-vampire-de-letre-humain-a-la-creature-de-la-nuit-66154.html

● Han, J., & Townes-Anderson, E. (2012). Cell Specific Post-Translational Processing of Pikachurin, A Protein Involved in Retinal Synaptogenesis. PLoS ONE, 7(12), 8. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050552

● Protein Homer 1—An overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (s. d.). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/protein-homer-1