lecture 7 - protein metabolism Flashcards
what are insulin and glucagon?
long chains of amino acids
what are proteins made up of?
‘building blocks’ called amino acids that are linked together by peptide bonds
how many levels build to make so many diff protein structures?
4 - primary (order of amino acids in the chain), secondary (amino acid chain wraps around itself in the form of a helix), tertiary and quaternary (we can have multiple subunits combined together to form the final shape of the structure)
how many of the 20 amino acids are essential and can be consumed in our diet?
9
what is the basic structure of an amino acid?
amino group, carboxylic acid group, hydrogen, r group
what does a r group mean?
it makes amino acids diff
what are branched chain amino acids (BCAAs)?
if proteins/amino acids arent stored in the body what do they do?
They freely circulate in the blood – in tissues to perform a function or excreted from the body
what does a free amino acid pool represent?
AAs in the circulation and extracellular fluids
- it is in a constant flux throughout the day
what is transamination?
- how AAs are formed
- it involves transferring an alpha amino group into a keto acid
- it is reversible
what is glucogenic transamination?
used in carbohydrate metabolism pathways
what is ketogenic transamination?
used to produce ketone bodies
what is the glucose alanine cycle?
converting alanine into glucose for energy
- If pyruvate cant be used immediately it can be transported into lactate or transaminate it into alanine
what is oxidative deamination?
Amine group is transferred onto a alpha keto group
Amine group turns into ammonia
what is the urea cycle?
Any AAs that the body does not use are removed via the urea cycle in the liver
- this can lead to production of ammonia which is highly toxic
