amino acid

any of a group of organic compounds containing one or more amino groups, -NH₂, and one or more carboxyl groups, -COOH. The alpha-amino acids RCH(NH₂)COOH (where R is either hydrogen or an organic group) are the component molecules of proteins; some can be synthesized in the body (nonessential amino acids) and others cannot and are thus essential components of the diet (essential amino acids)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

amino acid

[ə′mē‚nō ′as·əd]

(biochemistry)

Any of the organic compounds that contain one or more basic amino groups and one or more acidic carboxyl groups and that are polymerized to form peptides and proteins; only 20 of the more than 80 amino acids found in nature serve as building blocks for proteins; examples are tyrosine and lysine.

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References in periodicals archive

Being an essential amino acid valine is taken through foods containing it.

Optimization of Fermentation Media for Enhanced Amino Acids Production by Bacteria Isolated from Natural Sources

(b) The essential amino acid score based on the provisional amino acid scoring pattern using the following formula [9]:

Comparability of the amino acid composition of aril and seed of Blighia sapida fruit

Finding amino acids in these objects supports the theory that the origin of life got a boost from space-some of life's ingredients formed in space and were delivered to Earth long ago by meteorite impacts.

Life's building blocks discovered on surprising meteorite

Today, scientists have created more than 70 of these "unnatural amino acids" and are using them to reboot the protein-making machinery of bacteria, yeast and even mammal cells--all of which seem to welcome extra choice in their protein assembly.

Unnatural selection: chemists build proteins with parts not in the typical toolkit

Last year, scientists showed that the same amino acids, leucine, isoleucine and valine, could extend the lifespan of single-celled yeast.

Scientists claim: We've discovered 'elixir of life'

Crystal Structures of Branced-Chain Amino Acid Aminotransfease Complexed with Glutamate and Glutarate: True Reaction Intermediate and Double Substrate Recognition of the Enzyme.

Microbial Production of L-Isoleucine from Different Substrates using Locally Isolated Bacteria

Human muscle protein synthesis is modulated by extracellular, not intramuscular amino acid availability: a dose--response study.

Amino acids, blood sugar balance and muscle protein maintenance

Changes in environmental humidity affect the water-holding property of the stratum corneum and its free amino acid content, and the expression of filaggrin in the epidermis of hairless mice.

Relationship of amino acid concentrations in blood with occurrence of dermatophytosis

Amino acid content was determined after acidic and basic digestion for chromatographic and ionic change analyses (high-performance liquid chromatography) performed in sealed glass tubes under nitrogen atmosphere at 110[degrees]C.

Estimation of the dietary essential amino acid requirements of colliroja Astyanax fasciatus by using the ideal protein concept/Estimacion de los requerimientos dieteticos de aminoacidos esenciales de colliroja, Astyanax fasciatus, basadas en el concepto de proteina ideal corporal

Key words: Amino acids Effluents Irrigated Land Environmental Pollution.

Determination of Amino Acids in Industrial Effluents Contaminated Soil

Kundu, "Hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and charged amino acid networks within protein," Biophysical Journal, vol.

Analysis of unweighted amino acids network