What is the difference between denatured and coagulated proteins?

Question

What is the difference between denatured and coagulated proteins?

Answer 1

I am afraid Smartie has got it backwards

Denatured does NOT mean being broken down into amino acids: it refers to the loss of function that results from an alteration of the 3D structure of the protein. This can be the result of many factors, heat, change in pH, addition of detergents, change in salt concentration etc. Sometimes the process is reversible, but this depends  on the protein.

The term coagulation refers to two unrelated phenomena but generally implies a non-reversible process. The first is denaturation, as described above, often but not always due to human action. or example, the coagulation of egg proteins during cooking. The second meaning refers to the formation of a blood clot by the alteration of key blood proteins from a soluble to insoluble state. Usually a precursor protein, such as fibrinogen will be cleaved to form fibrin. This cannot be reversed

Answer 2

A denatured protein is a protein that has been broken down to its building blocks (amino acids) and has lost all of its properties.

Coagulation is the process of forming a clot. It is when a liquid or solid transforms into a semisolid form. For example when blood coagulates, it form a clot. The proteins in the blood still have the same molecular structure as they did before forming a clot and they do not break down to amino acids. Coagulation is reversible but de-naturation is not.