Amino Acid Metabolism Flashcards
Which AA can be phosphorylated?
Serine, threonine, tyrosine
Which AA is borderline borderline wrt polarity: sometimes
grouped with neutral polar aa’s?
Cysteine
Which AA cannot rotate freely around α-C, so
not found in protein structures that require
rotation (ex α-helix)
Proline
Which AA in the thiol group can form disulfide bonds? Which important proteins are these bonds a part of?
Cysteine / keratin, insulin, glutathione (antioxidant)
Which AA help bind metals? Why?
cysteine and methionine, because they contain S.
Which type of bonding can both the amide group of the hydroxyl group participate in?
Hydrogen bonding
In AAs, the nonpolar side chains are (hydrophobic / hydrophilic)?
hydrophobic
In AAs, the polar, acidic and basic side chains are (hydrophobic / hydrophilic)?
hydrophilic
Every amino acid contains at least 1 ________?
Nitrogen
What are the 3 different ways nitrogen can be incorporated into an amino acid?
transamination (indirect), transamidation (indirect) , and direct incorporation
What does transamination involve?
Transferring an amino group from an amino acid to an alpha ketoacid
3 amino acid and alpha ketoacid pairs to memorize are:
Alanine and pyruvate
Glutamate and alpha ketoglutarate
Aspartate and oxaloacetate
Transaminations require a _______________
coenzyme (PLP)
What does transamidation involve?
Transferring an amido group from an amino acid to an alpha ketoacid
What happens in direct incorporation?
The addition of N directly from ammonia and can require a B3 coenzyme
Which amino acids are in the Glutamate family?
glutamine, proline, arginine
Where is glutamine synthetase highly concentrated?
In the brain
Which amino acids are in the aspartate family?
Asparagine, lysine, threonine, methionine, isoleucine
Which amino acids are in the pyruvate family?
Alanine, valine, leucine
Which AAs are in the aromatic family?
tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine
Which amino acids are in the serine family?
serine, cystein and glycine
To be used as an enzyme, folate is first converted into _____________?
tetrahydrofolate
____ in an important electron carrier in the ETC
CoQ
Which AAs are in the histidine family?
histidine
True or false. catabolism is the opposite pathway to anabolism
False
Catabolism of AA requires ___________ to produce a carbon skeleton and an ammonium ion
deamination
After deamination, what happens to the NH4+?
It is converted to urea in the liver and excreted in the urine by the kidneys
What happens to the AA carbon skeletons?
They feed into ketogenic (to make ketone bodies) and/or gluconeogenic (to make glucose) cycles
