Aspartic acid

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Chemical structure of L-aspartic acid
Aspartic acid
Systematic (IUPAC) name
(2S)-2-aminobutanedioic acid
Identifiers
PubChem	5960
Chemical data
Formula	C₄H₇N O₄
Mol. weight	133.10
Complete data

Aspartic acid (abbreviated as Asp or D)^[1] is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO₂CCH(NH₂)CH₂CO₂H. The L-isomer is a one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e. the building blocks of proteins. Its codons are GAU and GAC. It is classified as an acidic amino acid, together with glutamic acid. Aspartic acid is pervasive in biosynthesis. Like all amino acids, the location of acid protons depends on the pH of the solution and the crystallization conditions.

The abbreviation Asx (or B) represent either aspartic acid or asparagine.

[edit] Role in biosynthesis of amino acids

Aspartic acid is non-essential in mammals, being produced from oxaloacetate by transamination. In plants and microorganisms, aspartic acid is the precursor to several amino acids, including four that are essential: methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine. The conversion of aspartic acid to these other amino acids begins with reduction of aspartic acid to its "semialdehyde," HO₂CCH(NH₂)CH₂CHO.^[2] Asparagine is derived from aspartic acid via transamidation:

HO₂CCH(NH₂)CH₂CO₂H + GC(O)NH₂ HO₂CCH(NH₂)CH₂CONH₂ + GC(O)OH

(where GC(O)NH₂ and GC(O)OH are glutamine and glutamic acid, respectively)

[edit] Other biochemical roles

Aspartic acid is also a metabolite in the urea cycle and participates in gluconeogenesis. It carries reducing equivalents in the malate-aspartate shuttle, which utilizes the ready interconversion of aspartate and oxaloacetate, which is the oxidized (dehydrogenated) derivative of malic acid. Aspartic acid donates one nitrogen atom in the biosynthesis of inositol, the precursor to the purine bases.

[edit] Neurotransmitter

Aspartate (the conjugate base of aspartic acid) stimulates NMDA receptors, though not as strongly as the amino acid neurotransmitter glutamate does.^[3] It serves as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is an excitotoxin ^{[citation needed]}.

As a neurotransmitter, aspartic acid may provide resistance to fatigue and thus lead to endurance, although the evidence to support this idea is not strong.

[edit] Sources

[edit] Dietary Sources

Aspartic acid is not an essential amino acid, which means that it can be synthesized from central metabolic pathway intermediates in humans and is not required in the diet. Aspartic acid is found in:

Animal sources: luncheon meats, sausage meat, wild game,
Vegetarian sources: sprouting seeds, oat flakes, avocado, asparagus.

[edit] References

^a

IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. Nomenclature and Symbolism for Amino Acids and Peptides. Recommendations on Organic & Biochemical Nomenclature, Symbols & Terminology etc.. URL accessed on September 28, 2005.

[edit] See also

N-methyl-D-Aspartate

[edit] External links

Amino acids

Essential amino acid | Protein | Peptide | Genetic code

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Aspartic acid. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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