SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

OF AMINO ACIDS

Ritchelle M. So, LPT, RND

 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Yield pyruvic acid on transamination

• Major vehicle for shuttling nitrogen to liver; carries nitrogen from
peripheral tissues for excretion
• Deaminated in the liver where carbon skeleton is reconverted to
glucose and serves as an important source of glucose when
exogenous supply if low
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS
• Component of immune enhancing diet (IED)
• Increases lymphocyte activity (stimulates killer cells)
• Enhances immune function by acting as precursor for nitric oxide, a potent
immunoregulatory mediator that is cytotoxic to tumor cells and to some
microorganism
• Synthesis of urea in the liver
• Essential in malnourished, septic patients, burn patients, or those recovering from
injury or surgery
• Enhances nitrogen retention and wound healing
• Maintains normal sperm count of semen
• Stimulates release of pituitary growth hormone
• Combines with GLYCINE to form creatinine and methionine
• Involved in synthesis of protein, urea and nucleotides; ATP regeneration
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Immediate source of half of the nitrogen for synthesis of urea

• Substrate for purine and pyrimidine synthesis
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Synthesis of asparagine
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Serves as shuttle mechanism to get fat into mitochondria to burn it

for energy
• Required for oxidation of long chain fatty acids
• Prevents build-up of fats that form plaques on walls of arteries
• Converts acyl compounds to less toxic forms and removes them from
cell
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Synthesis of urea in the liver

• Not used in protein synthesis but plays a critical role in the urea cycle
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Produced from demethylation of methionine

• Decreases methionine requirement by about 1/6
• Rate limiting AA for the synthesis of glutathione, the key antioxidant
in the body
• Important in brain as a neurotransmitter precursor
• Prevents necrosis of liver cells
• Formation of taurine, cysteine, and glutathione
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Neurotransmitter
• Substrate for glutathione synthesis
• Antagonist for umami taste receptor
• As MSG, it enhances the flavor of cooked foods
• Combines with ammonium ions produced from catabolism of AAs to
form glutamine
• Gives rise to:
o Glutamine for handling of excess ammonia
o Alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) for transamination reactions
o Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) for modulation of nerve impulses
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Precursor of the neurotransmitter GABA

• Most important source of amino group for transamination
• With glycine and cysteine, it aids in the synthesis of glutathione,
which is needed in redox reactions
• Combines with highly toxic ammonia to form glutamine
o Glutamic acid w/ glycine & cysteine = glutathione
o Glutamic acid w/ toxic ammonia = glutathione
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS
• Synthesized from glutamate
Glutamate + NH4 + glutamine synthetase glutamine
++
ATP + Mg
• Glutamine is the transport form of toxic ammonia in the blood
• Nitrogen donor for purine, pyrimidine, and ammonia in the blood
• Synthesized in all tissues and contribute the largest single component of the AA
pool; most abundant AA in the body especially in plasma and skeletal muscle
• Component of immune enhancing diet (IED)
• Preferred fuel of lymphocytes and intestinal cells enhancing gut wall structure
and integrity, immune function, and nitrogen retention
o Decreases atrophy of intestinal villi
o Stabilizes intestinal mucosa barrier therefore provides protection against bacterial
translocation
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS
• Component of bile acids and bile salts
• Precursor for the biosynthesis of purines
• Substrate for creatinine synthesis
• Detoxifying agent
• Part of porphyrin nucleus of hemoglobin
• Simplest AA in terms of chemical structure
• Only AA without optical activity
• Neurotransmitter
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Precursor of histamine which causes vasodilation in circulatory

system and the appearance of urticarial rashes
• Growth and repair of tissues
• Important in brain as a neurotransmitter precursor
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Hemoglobin formation
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Important in muscle metabolism because it provides considerable

energy to muscles during starvation and its metabolites impede
proteolysis
• Supplies muscle with 3 molecules of acetyl CoA/molecule of leucine
oxidized
• Stimulates secretion of insulin which with growth hormone are prime
promoters of protein synthesis
• Only purely ketogenic amino acid
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• For crosslinking protein especially fibrous proteins

 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS
• Major donor of methyl groups via S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) for
synthesis of compounds like choline, heme, creatine, epinephrine, and
nicotinamide
• Undergoes demethylation to produce cysteine and other sulfur-containing
compounds which prevent necrosis of liver cells
• May be involved in the etiology of heart disease because it is converted to
homocysteine which increases the tendency of blood vessels to rupture
❖ Removal of methyl group from SAM yields S-adenosyl homocysteine
(SAH) which can be converted to homocysteine
❖ Removal of methyl group from homocysteine produces methionine
❖ Homocysteine plus serine produces cysteine
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Component of collagen which is the most important protein of

connective tissue because
✓ it serves as matrix on which bone is formed
✓ it acts as a cementing substance when the body is wounded
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Source of hydroxy methylene groups for the 1-carbon pool

• Precursor of phospholipids, sphingolipids, choline, and ethanolamine
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Abundant in human milk but virtually absent in cow’s milk

• Needed for retinal and visual function, brain development, and
stability of the CNS
• Neurotransmitter therefore important to electrically active tissues
like the heart and brain
• Plasma concentration is decreased by trauma and sepsis
• Not used in protein synthesis but occur in high concentrations in the
body
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Precursor of vitamin B3 or NIACIN

• Precursor of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which gives the signal for
satiety and promotes sleepiness
• Deficiency causes insomnia, depression, and a decreased threshold
for pain
• Deaminated through bacterial action in intestine to form indole and
skatole
 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF AMINO ACIDS

• Decreases phenylalanine requirement by about ½

• Forms thyroxine/T4 (a type of thyroid hormone ) with iodine
• Essential in phenylketonuria (PKU) because phenylalanine is not
converted to tyrosine due to lack or absence of phenylalanine
hydroxylase
• Precursor for melanin, the pigment responsible for the color of skin,
hair, and eyes
• Precursor for the neurotransmitter epinephrine, norepinephrine, and
dopamine
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