20 Amino Acids Flashcards
What are the 4 classes of Amino acids
Nonpolar, Uncharged polar, Acidic, and Basic
What are the 9 Nonpolar AAs?
Glycine, Alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, methionine, proline
What about these nonpolar AAs make them nonpolar?
their side chains are nonpolar which basically means they are hydrophobic - they are lipid-like
What are the 6 Uncharged Polar Amino Acids?
Serine, Threonine, Tyrosine, Asparagine, Glutamine, Cysteine
What are the 3 main molecules associated with uncharged polar aas?
Hydroxyl group (-OH), Amide group (CONH2), and Sulfhydryl group (-SH)
What is distinct about uncharged polar side chains?
these side chains are hydrophilic which means they can do hydrogen bonding.
What mainly attaches to hydroxyl groups?
phosphate group
what attaches to amide groups? (and hydroxide groups)
oligosaccharide chains
what is important about sulfhydryl groups on uncharged polar amino acids?
they are involved in the active site of enzymes
What are the 2 kinds of Acidic aas?
Aspartate and Glutamate
What makes aspartate and glutamate acidic?
the side chains of both of these AAs have a negatively charged carboxylate group
the side chains are therefore, proton donors
proton donor
acidic
What are the 3 types of basic amino acids?
Lysine, Arginine, and Histidine
What makes the amino acids basic?
the side chains are positively charged
this makes the side chains protons acceptors
proton acceptors
basic
