Everything about Transaminase totally explained
In
biochemistry, a
transaminase or an
aminotransferase is an
enzyme that
catalyzes a type of reaction between an
amino acid and an
α-keto acid. Specifically, this reaction (
transamination) involves removing the
amino group from the amino acid, leaving behind an α-keto acid, and transferring it to the reactant α-keto acid and converting it into an amino acid. The enzymes are important in the production of various amino acids, and measuring the
concentrations of various transaminases in the blood is important in the diagnosing and tracking many
diseases. Transaminases require the coenzyme
pyridoxal-phosphate, which is converted into
pyridoxamine in the first phase of the reaction, when an amino acid is converted into a keto acid. Enzyme-bound
pyridoxamine in turn reacts with
pyruvate,
oxaloacetate, or
alpha-ketoglutarate, giving
alanine,
aspartic acid, or
glutamic acid, respectively.
The presence of
elevated transaminases can be an indicator of liver damage.
Transaminases in amino acid metabolism in animals
Animals must metabolize proteins to amino acids, at the expense of muscle tissue, when blood sugar is low. The preference of liver transaminases for
oxaloacetate or
alpha-ketoglutarate plays a key role in funneling nitrogen from amino acid metabolism to Asp and Glu for conversion to urea for excretion of nitrogen. Similarly, in muscles the use of pyruvate for transamination gives Ala, which is carried by the bloodstream to the liver. Here other transaminases regenerate pyruvate, which provides a valuable precursor for gluconeogenesis. This alanine cycle is analogous to the Cori cycle which allows anaerobic metabolism by muscles.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Transaminase'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://transaminase.totallyexplained.com">Transaminase Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
