Editing Native state (section)

{{Short description|Proper form of a protein or nucleic acid}}
{{For|the sovereign entities of British India|Native states}}
{{For|native states in metallurgy|Native state (metallurgy)}}{{Refimprove|date=April 2024}}
In [[biochemistry]], the '''native state''' of a [[protein]] or [[nucleic acid]] is its properly [[Protein folding|folded]] and/or assembled form, which is operative and functional.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hoang |first1=Trinh X. |last2=Marsella |first2=Luca |last3=Trovato |first3=Antonio |last4=Seno |first4=Flavio |last5=Banavar |first5=Jayanth R. |last6=Maritan |first6=Amos |date=2006-05-02 |title=Common attributes of native-state structures of proteins, disordered proteins, and amyloid |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=103 |issue=18 |pages=6883–6888 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0601824103 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1458988 |pmid=16624879|bibcode=2006PNAS..103.6883H }}</ref> The native state of a biomolecule may possess all four levels of [[biomolecular structure]], with the secondary through quaternary structure being formed from weak interactions along the covalently-bonded backbone. This is in contrast to the [[Denaturation (biochemistry)|denatured]] state, in which these weak interactions are disrupted, leading to the loss of these forms of structure and retaining only the biomolecule's primary structure.