Essential Amino Acids

Nutritionally, amino acids are of two types: (a) Essential and (b) Non-essential.
(c) There is also a third group of semi-essential amino acids.

(a) Essential amino acids: These are the ones which are not synthesised by the
body and must be taken in diet. They include valine, leucine, isoleucine,
phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine and lysine. For remembering the
following formula is used—MATT VIL PHLY.

(b) Non-essential amino acids: They can be synthesised by the body and may
not be the requisite components of the diet.

(c) Semi-essential amino acids: These are growth promoting factors since they are
not synthesised in sufficient quantity during growth. They include arginine and
histidine. They become essential in growing children, pregnancy and lactating women.

Occurrence of amino acids: All the standard amino acids mentioned above occur
in almost all proteins. Cereals are rich in acidic amino acids Asp and Glu while
collagen is rich in basic amino acids and also proline and hydroxy- proline.

New Amino Acids

In addition to 20 L-amino acids that take part in protein synthesis, recently two
more new amino acids described. They are:
 A. Selenocysteine - 21st amino
acids

B. Pyrrolysine-22ndaminoacid

A. Selenocysteine

Selenocysteine is recently introduced as 21st amino acid. Selenocysteine occurs at

the “active site” of several enzymes.
 Examples include:

• Thioredoxin reductase
 • Glutathione peroxidase which scavenges peroxides, • De-

iodinase that converts thyroxine to tri-

iodothyronine
 • Glycine reductase
 • Selenoprotein P, a glycoprotein containing

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selenocysteine residues, found in mammalian blood. It has an antioxidant function

and its concentration falls in selenium deficiency .
Selenocysteine arises co-translationally during its incorporation into peptides.
The UGA anticodon of the unusual tRNA designated tRNAsec, normally signals
STOP.

The ability of the protein synthesising apparatus to identify a selenocysteine

specific UGA codon involves the selenocysteine insertion element, a stem-loop
structure in the untranslated region of the m-RNA.

Selenocysteine-tRNAsec is first charged with serine by the Ligase that charges

tRNAsec. Subsequent replacement of the serine oxygen by selenium involves
seleno- phosphate formed by Selenophosphate synthetase.

B. Pyrrolysine—the 22nd Amino Acid

Recently it has been claimed as 22nd amino acid by some scientists. The STOP
codon UAG can code for pyrrolysine.
PROPERTIES OF AMINO ACIDS

A. Isomerism: Two types of isomerism are shown by amino acids basically due to
the presence of asymmetric carbon atom. Glycine has no asymmetric carbon atom in its
structure hence is optically inactive.

(a) Stereoisomerism: All amino acids except glycine exist in D and L isomers. As
described in the chapter on carbo- hydrates it is an absolute configuration. In D-
amino acids – NH2 group is on the right hand while in L-amino acids it is oriented to the
left. It is the same orientation of – OH group of the central carbon of
glyceraldehyde