Metabolism of amino acids (I)

Amino acid biosynthesis and nitrogen fixation

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
Amino acids also serve as precursors to many important small biologically active compounds, such as nucleotides, porphyrins, lipids, and co-enzymes.
Amino acids are also used to convert nitrogen and sulfur from inorganic to organic forms.
Amino acids are involved in the regeneration of ATP to be used as energy.
During the biosynthesis and degradation of amino acids, the nitrogen and carbon molecules can be better considered separately.

The carbon molecules of most amino acid are derived from (during biosynthesis) or entered into (during degradation) the central metabolic pathways.
The first step in amino acid metabolism usually involves either addition (during biosynthesis) or removal (during degradation) of the a amino group.

Subjects to be covered