Deamination

• Deamination is the process that gets rid of excess amino acids
• What is deamination?

  The removal of the amine group of an amino acid

  • the NH2 group is removed and reacted with CO2 to form urea
  • this takes place in the liver
• Describe the process of deamination.?

  • the amino acid is oxidised in the presence of an enzyme catalyst
  • at the same time, the amine group (NH2) and a hydrogen atom (H) are removed from the main structure of the amino acid
  • the amine group is reduced to ammonia (NH3) by the addition of a hydrogen atom
  • ammonia is reacted with CO2 to produce urea
  • urea is less toxic than ammonia and so can travel in the blood, but it must be got rid of quickly because it can still have ill effects
  • urea is then transported by the blood from the liver to the kidneys where it forms part of urine