L12 Amino Acids Metabolism

• amino acids

  -sources of energy and may be converted to other molecules - fatty acid, glucose, stored glycogen
• 2 types of AA in the body

  essential : obtained from diet

  non-essential : synthesized in liver, produced from other sources (carbohydrate precursors)
• Important coenzymes of amino acids metabolism

  -Pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)

  -Tetrahydrofolate (FH4)

  -Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4)
• Glutamate

  transporter of waste nitrogen
• Glutamine


  critical role in nitrogen homeostasis
• Alanine


  transferring nitrogen in peripheral tissues to liver
• Methionine


  donate sulfur for cysteine synthesis
• Cysteine

  produce taurine (bile precursor)
• Asparaginase

  Anti-cancer drugs in hematopoietic cancer
• Tyrosine

  -protein synthesis

  -intermediate in catecholamine neurotransmitter biosynthesis.
• Tryptophan


  precursor for the neurotransmitter of serotonin and melatonine
• Serotonin

  -regulating mood

  -treatment for depression
• Histidine


  Precursor for neurotransmitter of histamine
• Disorders of the urea cycle

  -hyperammonemia

  -respiratory alkalosis

  -encephalopathy