Arginine reactions

Table 1.29. Ornithine is formed during cleavage of arginine (Reaction 1.54).

Our experience conditions us to focus on the organic components of the reaction—l arginine and l citrul line—and to give less attention to the inorganic one—nitric oxide (nitrogen monoxide NO) To do so however would lead us to overlook one of the most important discoveries in biology in the last quarter of the twentieth century... 

The side groups of the amino acids vary markedly in size and chemical nature and play an important role in the chemical reactions of the fiber. For example, the basic groups (hisidine, arginine, and lysine) can attract acid (anionic) dyes, and in addition the side chains of lysine and hisidine are important sites for the attachment of reactive dyes. The sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine plays a very important role, because almost all of the cysteine residues in the fiber are linked in pairs to form cystine residues, which provide a disulfide bridge —S—S— between different polypeptide molecules or between segments of the same molecules as shown ... 

Heterocyclic enamines A -pyrroline and A -piperideine are the precursors of compounds containing the pyrrolidine or piperidine rings in the molecule. Such compounds and their N-methylated analogs are believed to originate from arginine and lysine (291) by metabolic conversion. Under cellular conditions the proper reaction with an active methylene compound proceeds via an aldehyde ammonia, which is in equilibrium with other possible tautomeric forms. It is necessary to admit the involvement of the corresponding a-ketoacid (12,292) instead of an enamine. The a-ketoacid constitutes an intermediate state in the degradation of an amino acid to an aldehyde. a-Ketoacids or suitably substituted aromatic compounds may function as components in active methylene reactions (Scheme 17). 

FIGURE 5.20 Trypsin is a proteolytic enzyme, or protease, that specifically cleaves only those peptide bonds in which arginine or lysine contributes the carbonyl function. The products of the reaction are a mixture of peptide fragments with C-terminal Arg or Lys residues and a single peptide derived from the polypeptide s C-terminal end. 

L-Arginine Arginase + Urease (double reaction) nh3, co2 Tris pH 7 NHj-airgap ... 

One step in the urea cycle for ridding the body of ammonia is the conversion of argininosuccinate to the amino acid arginine plus fumarate. Propose a mechanism for the reaction, and show the structure of arginine. 

The MW of the TBDMS derivatives of PTH-AAs can be calculated using the following formula MW = R + 191 + n(114), where n is the number of TBDMS groups. Arginine loses NH3 during, or prior to, the derivatization reaction. Thus, the characteristic loss of 57 Daltons (C4H9) from the TBDMS derivative occurs at M - 74 (57 + 17). 

Hyperargininemia. This defect is characterized by elevated blood and cerebrospinal fluid arginine levels, low erythrocyte levels of arginase (reaction 5, Figure 29-9), and a urinary amino acid pattern resembling that of lysine-cystinuria. This pattern may reflect competition by arginine with lysine and cystine for reabsorption in the renal tubule. A low-protein diet lowers plasma ammonia levels and abolishes lysine-cystinuria. 

Figure 31-3. Arginine, ornithine, and proline metabolism. Reactions with solid arrows all occur in mammalian tissues. Putrescine and spermine synthesis occurs in both mammals and bacteria. Arginine phosphate of invertebrate muscle functions as a phosphagen analogous to creatine phosphate of mammalian muscle (see Figure 31-6).

Figure 4.4 Release of amino acids from cortical slices exposed to 50 mM K+. Measurements by HPEC and fluorescence detection after reaction of amino acids with o-phthalaldehyde 1, aspartate 2, glutamate 3, asparagine 4, serine 5, glutamine 6, histidine 7, homoserine (internal standard) 8, glycine 9, threonine 10, arginine 11, taurine 12, alanine 13, GABA 14, tyrosine. Glutamate concentration is almost 1 pmol/gl which represents a release rate of 30 pmol/min/mg tissue...

Reactions involving carbamyl phosphate in the degradation of arginine in Clostridia, and the fermentation of allantoin by Streptococcus allantoicus... 

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