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Some links you may find useful: Periodic Table of the Elements.
Related topics of interest: Peptides in the cell membrane? Amino acids and nutrition. Ok, so sickle cell is caused by an amino acid substitution, but what is it? Repressor proteins and gene expression.
"In biology, chaperones are proteins whose function is to assist other proteins in achieving proper folding. Many chaperones are heat shock proteins, that is, proteins expressed in response to elevated temperatures. The reason for this behaviour is that protein folding is severely affected by heat, and therefore chaperones act to counteract the potential damage. Although most proteins can fold in absence of chaperones, a minority strictly requires them. A large number of chaperones need ATP for proper function. However, chaperones are quite diverse and there is still considerable debate and uncertainty on how they function. Chaperones recognize unfolded proteins by the hydrophobic residues these expose to the solvent. Exposed hydrophobic residues are unusual for properly folded proteins, which almost always have primarily hydrophilic amino acids exposed to solvent. Since the environment of the cell is characterized by hydrophilic groups (mostly water), incompletely folded proteins or misfolded proteins with exposed hydrophobic groups have a tendency to aggregate. This aggregation is extremely detrimental to the cell, and chaperones help to prevent this by providing encapsulated hydrophobic environments that allow the protein to properly fold. Chaperonins are a subset of chaperone proteins found in prokaryotes, mitochondria and plastids." Read more about chaperones in "Unraveling the Mystery of Protein Folding" here.
Annual Sickle Cell Disease Clinical Research Meetings, 2005. (Note, this is a PDF document.)
ENZYMES: You have been introduced to the basics of enzyme classification and function. See this site for much more information.
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© 2005 STCC Foundation Press
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One
of the functions of proteins that you are given is that of
communication. Neurotransmitters are signaling molecules in the nervous system.
Some neurotransmitters are proteins (or more properly peptides). Not all neurotransmitters are proteins, but some are. Please
read 
