Proteins are composed of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. There are four levels of protein structure - primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. The primary structure is the linear sequence of amino acids. The two most common types of secondary structure are the alpha helix and beta sheet. In an alpha helix, amino acid residues form a coil stabilized by hydrogen bonds between residues four places apart in the sequence. In a beta sheet, residues form extended zigzag patterns stabilized by hydrogen bonds between residues on adjacent strands running in parallel or anti-parallel directions.