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Concept
Transamination
Summary
Transamination is a chemical reaction that transfers an amino group to a ketoacid to form new amino acids. This pathway is responsible for the deamination of most amino acids. This is one of the major degradation pathways which convert essential amino acids to non-essential amino acids (amino acids that can be synthesized de novo by the organism).
Transamination in biochemistry is accomplished by enzymes called transaminases or aminotransferases. α-ketoglutarate acts as the predominant amino-group acceptor and produces glutamate as the new amino acid.
Aminoacid + α-ketoglutarate ↔ α-keto acid + glutamate
Glutamate's amino group, in turn, is transferred to oxaloacetate in a second transamination reaction yielding aspartate.
Glutamate + oxaloacetate ↔ α-ketoglutarate + aspartate
Transamination catalyzed by aminotransferase occurs in two stages. In the first step, the α amino group of an amino acid is transferred to the enzyme, producing the corresponding α-keto acid and the aminated enzyme. During the second stage, the amino group is transferred to the keto acid acceptor, forming the amino acid product while regenerating the enzyme. The chirality of an amino acid is determined during transamination. For the reaction to complete, aminotransferases require participation of aldehyde containing coenzyme, pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP), a derivative of Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6). The amino group is accommodated by conversion of this coenzyme to pyridoxamine-5'-phosphate (PMP). PLP is covalently attached to the enzyme via a Schiff Base linkage formed by the condensation of its aldehyde group with the ε-amino group of an enzymatic Lys residue. The Schiff base, which is conjugated to the enzyme's pyridinium ring, is the focus of the coenzyme activity.
The product of transamination reactions depend on the availability of α-keto acids. The products usually are either alanine, aspartate or glutamate, since their corresponding alpha-keto acids are produced through metabolism of fuels.
Official source
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