Occurrence and Biosynthesis
This compound is one of the naturally occurring proteinogenic amino acids. Only the -stereoisomer appears naturally in proteins. It is not essential to the human diet, since it is synthesized in the body from other metabolites, including glycine. Serine was first obtained from silk protein, a particularly rich source, in 1865. Its name is derived from the Latin for silk, sericum. Serine's structure was established in 1902.
The biosynthesis of serine starts with the oxidation of 3-phosphoglycerate to 3-phosphohydroxypyruvate and NADH. Reductive amination of this ketone followed by hydrolysis gives serine. Serine hydroxymethyltransferase catalyzes the reversible, simultaneous conversions of -serine to glycine (retro-aldol cleavage) and 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate to 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (hydrolysis).
This compound may also be naturally produced when UV light illuminates simple ices such as a combination of water, methanol, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia, suggesting that it may be easily produced in cold regions of space.
Read more about this topic: Serine
Famous quotes containing the word occurrence:
“One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted; and a community is infinitely more brutalised by the habitual employment of punishment than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)