Amino acids

Amino acids

Proteins are made up of organic compounds called amino acids. The human body uses amino acids to build and repair body tissue. The body can make some of its own amino acids from other nutrients in the diet; these are called non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are those that cannot be made by the body but must be consumed in the diet. Animal proteins (like meat, eggs, fish, and milk) provide all of the amino acids.

Mentioned in: Albinism, Hartnup Disease, Hemoglobinopathies

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Patient discussion about Amino acids.

Q. what are Amino Acids and what are their for? how do i need to do to keep it "going "?

A. Amino acids are the basic structural building units of proteins. They form short polymer chains called peptides or longer chains called either polypeptides or proteins. The process of such formation from an mRNA template is known as translation, which is part of protein biosynthesis. Twenty amino acids are encoded by the standard genetic code and are called proteinogenic or standard amino acids. Other amino acids contained in proteins are usually formed by post-translational modification, which is modification after translation in protein synthesis. These modifications are often essential for the function or regulation of a protein; for example, the carboxylation of glutamate allows for better binding of calcium cations, and the hydroxylation of proline is critical for maintaining connective tissues and responding to oxygen starvation. For full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid Hope this helps.