Amino acids Flashcards
List the acidic AA
Aspartic acid, glutamic acid
List the basic AA
Lysine, Arginine, Histidine
List the uncharged polar AA
Serine, Threonine, Asparagine, Glutamine, Tyrosine, Cysteine
List the nonpolar AA
Glycine, Alanine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Methionine, Proline, Phenylalanine, Tryptophan
What AA are essential?
(Pvt Tim Hall)
Phenlyalanine, Valine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Isoleucine, Methionine, Histidine, Arginine (both essential and nonessential), Leucine, Lysine
What AA are made from glucose?
If you know essential and from essential you can deduce
What AA are made from essential AAs?
Tyrosine (Phenylalanine) and Cysteine (from methionine)
What is the biological value?
Determined by the extent to which it has the essential AAs
Where are most nonessential AA made?
Liver
When would a nonessential AA become an essential AA?
Loss of precursor or enzyme activity
3 Phosphoglycerate can be made into what AA?
Serine (then to glycine; to cysteine via methionine)
Pyruvate can be made into what AA? By what process?
Alanine, Transamination
Oxaloacetate can be made into what AA?
Asparate via transamination. Asparate combined with glutamine to yield asparagine
Alpha-ketoglutarate can be made into what AA?
Via transamination and glutamate dehydrogenase to glutamate. Glutamate can be made to glutamine or to glutamate semialdehyde. Glutamate semialdehyde to proline and arginine.
Where does N in AA come from?
Atmospheric N
90% of N is excreted as?
Urea
The C skeleton in AA comes from?
7 other intermediates from metabolism
Where is the major site of protein catabolism?
Muscle and Liver
What is the AA pool?
Sum of all free AA in our body; 90-100 g
T or F: Nitrogen is stored in the body
F
What is the healthy state of nitrogen balance?
No net change in amount of body N
A positive N balance would result from?
Net increase in protein. Pregnancy, lactation, recovery.
A negative nitrogen balance would result from? 3 Scenarios
Body protein breakdown (disease or trauma). Inadequate dietary protein. Lack of quality essential AA
What is kwashiorkor?
Inadequate dietary intake typified by growth failure, edema of liver and so on
What mediates protein degredation?
Ubiquitin
T or F: Protein digestion is highly regulated and very efficient
T
T or F: The digestive tract has a small reserve of digestive proteins
F (huge)
How much protein is consumed daily (average)?
70-100 g
What are the three phrases of digestive enzymes?
Gastric, Pancreatic, Intestinal
Describe the gastric phase of digestion
Protein digestion in stomach in HCl in stomach
Describe the pancreatic phase of digestion
In small intestine, pancreatic enzymes cleave the polypeptides to oligopeptides and AA (trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, and carboxypeptides)
What is the intestinal phase of digestion?
Cleave oligopeptides to AA. Aminopeptidases cleave the N-terminal. Di and tri peptidases cleave di and tripeptides to AA
Where do aminopeptidases cleave?
N-terminal
Where do carboxypeptidases cleave?
C terminal
Pepsin cleaves at what AA?
Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Glutamine, Aspartate (aromatic and acidic AA)
Where does trypsin cleave?
Arginine and Lysine (basic AA)
Where does chymotrypsin cleave?
After aromatic AA (phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan) and leucine (aromatic and hydrophobic AA)
Where does elastase cleave?
Alanine, glycine, serine (small AA)
Carboxypeptidase A cleaves?
Hydrophobic AA at C terminus
Carboxypeptidase B cleaves?
Arginine and Lysine at the C terminus
What are zymogens?
Precursor to enzymes
Zymogen of pepsin?
Pepsinogen (activated by acid)
Zymogen of Trypsin
Trypsinogen (enteropeptidase)
Zymogen of chymotrypsin
Chymotrypsinogen (trypsin)
Zymogen of elastase
Proelastase (trypsin)
Zymogen of carboxypeptidase
Procarboxypeptidase (trypsin)
How are AA transported from the lumen of small gut into the blood?
Via brush border membrane of intestinal and kidney cells (sodium cotransport of AA)
T or F: Brush border are rich in microvilli
T
What is cystinuria?
Defective cystine and other AA which lead to cystine AA in the urine
What is Hartnup disease?
Neutral amino aciduria (defective neutral AA transport). Excretion of neutral AA in urine. Tryptophan in the urine
-Uria relates to? -Emia relates to?
Urine levels, Blood levels
Describe the three processes involved in nitrogen disposal
Transamination, oxidative deamination, and urea cycle
alpha-AA is transaminated to?
alpha-Keto acid
Alpha-ketoglutarate is transaminated to?
Glutamate
Glutamate is oxidatively deaminated to?
Alpha-ketoglutarate
NAD is oxidatively deaminated to?
NADH and NH4+
What is the function of urea cycle?
Take NH4+ to Urea
What is transamination?
Transfer of amino from AA to alpha-keto acid
Alanine is transaminated to? Aspartate is transaminated to? Glutmate is transaminated to?
Pyruvate, Oxaloacetate, Alpha-ketoglutarate
Transamination is catalyzed by?
Aminotransferases
What is a keto acid?
Contain a carboxylic acid group adjacent to a ketone group
What is the usual acceptor of the amino group in an aminotransferase reaction?
Alpha-ketoglutarate
What is the cofactor of Aminotransferase?
Pyridoxal phosphate (PLP, from B6) via Ping Pong Mechanism
What is ALT?
Alanine aminotransferase (takes pyruvate to alanine)
What is AST?
Aspartate aminotransferase (Oxaloacetate to aspartate)
What do levels of ALT or AST imply?
Liver damage
AA groups (nitrogen) are typically collected via?
Glutamate and alpha-ketoglutarate
Where does transamination take place?
Muscle and Liver (usually in cytosol)
Describe oxidative deamination of glutamate?
Glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate and ammonium (via NADP to NADPH or NAD to NADH)
Oxidative deamination prefers what cofactor?
NAD
Reductive deamination prefers what cofactor?
NADPH
What enzyme catalyzes glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate?
Glutamate dehydrogenase
T or F: Oxidative deamination is fully reversible
T
Glutamate dehydrogenase is regulated by?
Negative (GTP) - lost of alpha-ketoglutarate so pushed away
Positive (ADP)
What is hyperammonemia?
High levels of ammonia in blood due to chronic liver disease or inherited metabolic disorder
Why is ammonia very toxic?
Depletes alpha-ketoglutarate, ATP, and NAD(P)H via back reaction. Glutamate is an excitatory NT leading to CNS defects
Where is the urea cycle fully perfomed?
Liver cells (partial in other cells)
High blood urea nitrogen is indicative of?
Kidney problems
Low blood urea nitrogen is indicative of?
Genetic defects in urea cycle