serine (sĕr`ēn), organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids amino acid (əmē`nō)
..... Click the link for more information. commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is not essential to the human diet, since it can be synthesized in the body from other metabolites, including glycine glycine (glī`sēn), organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins.
..... Click the link for more information. . Serine is important in metabolism in that it participates in the biosynthesis of purines purine, type of organic base found in the nucleotides and nucleic acids of plant and animal tissue. The German chemist Emil Fischer did much of the basic work on purines and introduced the term into the chemical literature in the early 20th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. and pyrimidines pyrimidine (pīrĭm`ĭdēn')
..... Click the link for more information. , cysteine cysteine (sĭs`tēn), organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins .
..... Click the link for more information. , tryptophan tryptophan (trĭp`təfăn), organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins.
..... Click the link for more information. (in bacteria), and a large number of other metabolites. When incorporated into the structure of enzymes, serine often plays an important role in their catalytic function. It has been shown to occur in the active sites of chymotrypsin chymotrypsin (kī'mōtrĭp`sĭn), proteolytic, or protein-digesting, enzyme active in the mammalian intestinal tract.
..... Click the link for more information. , trypsin trypsin, enzyme that acts to degrade protein ; it is often referred to as a proteolytic enzyme, or proteinase. Trypsin is one of the three principal digestive proteinases, the other two being pepsin and chymotrypsin .
..... Click the link for more information. , and many other enzymes. The so-called nerve gases and many substances used in insecticides have been shown to act by combining with a residue of serine in the active site of acetylcholine esterase, inhibiting the enzyme completely. Without the esterase activity that usually destroys acetylcholine acetylcholine (əsēt'əlkō`lēn), a small organic molecule liberated at nerve endings as a neurotransmitter .
..... Click the link for more information. as soon as it performs its function, dangerously high levels of this neurotransmitter build up, quickly resulting in convulsions and death. Serine was first obtained from silk protein, a particularly rich source, in 1865; its structure was established in 1902.

serine

One of the nonessential amino acids, found in substantial concentrations (sometimes 5–10%) in many common proteins. It is also an important component of phospholipids. It is used in biochemical and microbiological research and as a dietary supplement and feed additive.

serine [′se‚rēn]

(biochemistry)

C₃H₇O₃N An amino acid obtained by hydrolysis of many proteins; a biosynthetic precursor of several metabolites, including cysteine, glycine, and choline.

serine (redirected from Arthrobacter serine proteinase)

serine

serine
(redirected from Arthrobacter serine proteinase)