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asparagine |
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asparagine (əspâr`əjēn), 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 participates in the biosynthesis of mammalian proteins. Its structure is identical to that of the amino acid aspartic acid aspartic acid (əspär`tĭk), organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. ..... Click the link for more information. , except that the latter compound's acidic side-chain carboxyl group has been coupled with ammonia, yielding an amide. Like glutamine glutamine (gl ..... Click the link for more information. , asparagine is important in the metabolism of toxic ammonia in the body. The relatively unreactive, neutral amide group in the side chain of asparagine confers no special properties upon this amino acid once it is included within a protein by two peptide bonds. Asparagine is not essential to the human diet, since it can be synthesized from aspartic acid. The first amino acid to be isolated from its natural source, asparagine was purified from asparagus juice in 1806; proof of the occurrence of this amino acid in proteins was finally obtained in 1932. asparagineOne of the nonessential amino acids, widely distributed in plant proteins and closely related to aspartic acid. First isolated in 1806 from asparagus, it is used in medicine and biochemical research. |
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Indeed, he notes, the structure of the amino acid asparagine resembles acrylamide, and asparagine is potatoes' primary unbound amino acid. The remaining 12 (alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, glutamine, arginine, serine, and tyrosine) are called "non-essential" not because we don't need them, but because our bodies can make them, if necessary. L-asparaginase is an enzyme that depletes the amino acid asparagine, which certain leukemic cells are dependent upon for survival. |
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