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If you scroll down through the uniprot entry you will come to a section with the heading PTM/Processing.
From this you can see that the first 18 amino acids are a signal peptide.
You can learn more about signal peptides from any good introductory textbook covering cell-biology — alternatively Khan Academy is a good source for learning the basics.
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If you have ever used a natural bath sponge, you know that the structure of a sponge's spongin skeleton is great for absorbing water and squeezing that water back out. The sponge's skeleton contains millions of tiny holes, all connected in a massive network of internal tunnels, through which the sponge takes in food and eliminates waste. It feeds by use of ...
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much like cellulose, chitin strands are bonded to other strands by hydrogen bonds. here is a slide share with a breakdown of the structure.
It is crosslinked in the sense strands are linked to other strands in such a way that most enzymes cannot access it to break it down. this is the same thing that makes wood last untreated. In a strictly chemistry sense ...
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