Citric acid cycle strategy

See also Citric Acid Cycle Strategy, Citric Acid Cycle Intermediates in Amino Acid Metabolism... 

We now turn to the fates of the carbon skeletons of amino acids after the removal of the a-amino group. The strategy of amino acid degradation is to transform the carbon skeletons into major metabolic intermediates that can be converted into glucose or oxidized by the citric acid cycle. The conversion pathways range from extremely simple to quite complex. The carbon skeletons of the diverse set of 20 fundamental amino acids are furmeled into only seven molecules pyruvate, acetyl CoA, acetoacetyl CoA, a-ketoglutarate, succinyl CoA, fumarate, and oxaloacetate. We see here a striking example of the remarkable economy of metabolic conversions, as well as an illustration of the importance of certain metabolites. 

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