Amino acid

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Amino acids are the end product of protein.The general structure of an α-amino acid, with the amino group on the left and the carboxyl group on the right.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. In eukaryotes, there are 20 standard amino acids out of which almost all proteins are made.

In biochemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that has both amine (NH2+R) and carboxyl (C=O) functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is one of many side groups (see diagram).

About 500 amino acids are known.[1] For animals, the most important thing that amino acids do is to make proteins, which are very long chains of amino acids. Every protein has its own sequence of amino acids, and that sequence makes the protein take different shapes, and have different functions. Amino acids are like the alphabet for proteins; even though you only have a few letters, if you connect them, you can make many different sentences.

Nine of the 20 standard amino acids are "essential" amino acids for humans. They cannot be built (synthesised) from other compounds by the human body, and so must be taken in as food. Others may be essential for some ages or medical conditions. Essential amino acids may also differ between species. Herbivores have to get their essential amino acids from their diet, which for some is almost entirely grass. Ruminants such as cows get some amino acids via microbes in the first two stomach chambers.

Structure[change | change source]

An amino acid consists of an α-carbon atom that is covalently bonded to four groups.[2]

  • a hydrogen atom
  • an amino group (-NH2)
  • a carboxyl group (-COOH)
  • a variable R group

Every amino acid has at least one amino group (-NH2) and one carboxyl group (-COOH), except proline.

Gene expression and biochemistry[change | change source]

These are the proteinogenic amino acids, which are the building blocks for proteins. They are produced by cellular machinery coded for in the genetic code of any organism.[3]

Amino Acid Short Abbrev. Codon(s) Occurrence
in human proteins
Essential in humans
Alanine A Ala GCU, GCC, GCA, GCG 7.8 No
Cysteine C Cys UGU, UGC 1.9 Conditionally
Aspartic acid D Asp GAU, GAC 5.3 No
Glutamic acid E Glu GAA, GAG 6.3 Conditionally
Phenylalanine F Phe UUU, UUC 3.9 Yes
Glycine G Gly GGU, GGC, GGA, GGG 7.2 Conditionally
Histidine H His CAU, CAC 2.3 Yes
Isoleucine I Ile AUU, AUC, AUA 5.3 Yes
Lysine K Lys AAA, AAG 5.9 Yes
Methionine M Met AUG 2.3 Yes
Asparagine N Asn AAU, AAC 4.3 No
Pyrrolysine O Pyl UAG* 0 No
Proline P Pro CCU, CCC, CCA, CCG 5.2 No
Glutamine Q Gln CAA, CAG 4.2 No
Threonine T Thr ACU, ACC, ACA, ACG 5.9 Yes
Selenocysteine U Sec UGA** >0 No
Valine V Val GUU, GUC, GUA, GUG 6.6 Yes
Tryptophan W Trp UGG 1.4 Yes
Tyrosine Y Tyr UAU, UAC 3.2 Conditionally

An essential amino acid cannot be synthesized in humans. It must be supplied in the diet. Conditionally essential amino acids are not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied to populations which do not make enough of it.

References[change | change source]

  1. Wagner, Ingrid & Musso, Hans 2003. New naturally occurring amino acids Angewandte Chemie international edition.
  2. Creighton, Thomas H. (1993). "Chapter 1". Proteins: structures and molecular properties. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-7030-5 .
  3. Ambrogelly A; Palioura S & Söll D. (2007). "Natural expansion of the genetic code". Nat Chem Biol 3 (1): 29–35. doi:10.1038/nchembio847 . PMID 17173027 .