In
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
, a protein dimer is a macromolecular
complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
formed by two protein monomers, or single proteins, which are usually
non-covalently bound. Many
macromolecules, such as
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
s or
nucleic acids, form dimers. The word ''dimer'' has roots meaning "two parts", ''
di-'' + ''
-mer
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