peptides

Peptides (from Gr. πεπτός, "digested", derived from πέσσειν, "to digest") are short chains of amino acid monomers linked by peptide (amide) bonds, the covalent chemical bonds formed when the carboxyl group of one amino acid reacts with the amino group of another. Peptides are distinguished from proteins on the basis of size, and as a benchmark can be understood to contain approximately 50 amino acids or less[citation needed]. The shortest peptides are dipeptides, consisting of 2 amino acids joined by a single peptide bond, followed by tripeptides, tetrapeptides, etc. A polypeptide is a long, continuous, and unbranched peptide chain. Hence, peptides fall under the broad chemical classes of biological oligomers and polymers, alongside nucleic acids, oligo- and polysaccharides, etc.

For more information about peptides check the Wikipedia article here

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