Role in Biosynthesis of Amino Acids
Aspartate is non-essential in mammals, being produced from oxaloacetate by transamination. It can also be made in the Urea Cycle from Ornithine and Citrulline. In plants and microorganisms, aspartate is the precursor to several amino acids, including four that are essential for humans: methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine. The conversion of aspartate to these other amino acids begins with reduction of aspartate to its "semialdehyde," O2CCH(NH2)CH2CHO. Asparagine is derived from aspartate via transamidation:
- -O2CCH(NH2)CH2CO2- + GC(O)NH3+ O2CCH(NH2)CH2CONH3+ + GC(O)O
(where GC(O)NH2 and GC(O)OH are glutamine and glutamic acid, respectively)
Read more about this topic: Aspartic Acid
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