Metabolism vitamin molecules

All aminotransferases have the same prosthetic group and the same reaction mechanism. The prosthetic group is pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), the coenzyme form of pyridoxine, or vitamin B6. We encountered pyridoxal phosphate in Chapter 15, as a coenzyme in the glycogen phosphorylase reaction, but its role in that reaction is not representative of its usual coenzyme function. Its primary role in cells is in the metabolism of molecules with amino groups. 

Bone and Teeth Defective formation of enamel of teeth. Abnormal bone and tooth formation are reversed by vitamin A administration. Carbohydrate metabolism Vitamin A helps glucose synthesis from triose molecules. Reproduction Retinol and retinal are essential for normal reproduction. 

Vitamin D is the name for a structurally related set of molecules that play a major role in the regulation of calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Vitamin Dj is synthesized in the skin of mammals by the action of ultraviolet radiation on 7- dehydrocholesterol. 

In addition to its classical role as regulator of calcium homeostasis, 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (calcitriol) displays immunosuppressive properties. Inhibition of T-lymphocyte proliferation seems to be mediated via regulation of CD80/86 costimulatory molecule expression on APCs. For clinical use as immunosuppressant, however, analogues of vitamin D3 that do not influence calcium metabolism are needed. 

The different solubilities of these two kinds of vitamins have important metabolic consequences. Aqueous body fluids do not dissolve fat-soluble vitamins, so these molecules can be stored in fatty body tissue for a long time. As a result, too much of a fat-soluble vitamin can overload the body s storage capabilities and lead to a toxic reaction. In contrast, the body cannot store water-soluble vitamins instead, it excretes anything more than the amount it can use immediately. People must therefore have a steady supply of water-soluble vitamins in their diets to remain healthy. 

In intestinal cells, carotenoids can be incorporated into CMs as intact molecules or metabolized into mainly retinol (or vitamin A), but also in retinoic acid and apoc-arotenals (see below for carotenoid cleavage reactions). These polar metabolites are directly secreted into the blood stream via the portal vein (Figure 3.2.2). Within intestinal cells, retinol can be also esterified into retinyl esters. 

Pantothenic acid and biotin were thus found to be growth factors for yeast. Like riboflavin these molecules are incorporated into larger molecules in order to exert their essential metabolic function. Unlike the other vitamins there has been no evidence of pathological signs in man which can be attributed to dietary deficiencies in biotin or pantothenic acid. 

Now here is the central nnderstanding—the role of several vitamins is to serve as coenzymes or as metabolic precursors for coenzymes that is, the vitamin itself may serve as coenzyme or it may be converted in the human body to a coenzyme. The other key point 1 suppose is obvious but 1 am going to state it anyway we need vitamins in our diet because we cannot make them ourselves. In that sense, they are like essential amino acids or essential fatty acids stuff that we need but cannot make ourselves and so must obtain from dietary sources. So let s get started in understanding these critical molecules and how they serve the needs of human beings. 

In the human body, cholecalciferol and ergocalciferol undergo two metabolic transformations to yield the active vitamin D molecule. These are additions of hydroxyl groups, first in the liver to produce 25-hydroxyvitamin D and then in the kidney. The final product has the unwieldy name la, 25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, and is more commonly known by its simpler name 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D or, even more simply, l,25(OH)2D. 

Vitamin Be is again a small family of related compounds having the same biological activity. These include pyridoxine, pyridoxai, and pyridoxamine. In humans, these molecules are readily interconverted, accounting for their equivalence as vitamins. The stuff in your vitamin pill is likely to be pyridoxine. The actual molecule that functions as a coenzyme in metabolism is pyridoxai phosphate, in which a phosphate group has been added to pyridoxai in an ATP-dependent reaction. 

The vitamin Be family of molecules are metabolic precursors to pyridoxal phosphate, an essential coenzyme for multiple enzymes involved in amino acid metabolism. 

Folic acid is a vitamin, as we developed in chapter 15. It is a complex molecule that serves as an essential precursor for coenzymes involved in the metabolism of one-carbon units. For example, folic acid-derived coenzymes are critically involved in the biosynthesis of thymidine for nucleic acid synthesis and methionine for protein biosynthesis. The synthesis of both demands donation of a methyl group and they come from folic acid-derived coenzymes. 

Vitamin Ai (retinol) is derived in mammals by oxidative metabolism of plant-derived dietary carotenoids in the liver, especially -carotene. Green vegetables and rich plant sources such as carrots help to provide us with adequate levels. Oxidative cleavage of the central double bond of -carotene provides two molecules of the aldehyde retinal, which is subsequently reduced to the alcohol retinol. Vitamin Ai is also found in a number of foodstuffs of animal origin, especially eggs and dairy products. Some structurally related compounds, including retinal, are also included in the A group of vitamins. 

This is a complex molecule, made up of an adenine nucleotide (ADP-3 -phosphate), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), and cysteamine (2-mercaptoethylamine), but for mechanism purposes can be thought of as a simple thiol, HSCoA. Pre-eminent amongst the biochemical thioesters is the thioester of acetic acid, acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA). This compound plays a key role in the biosynthesis and metabolism of fatty acids (see Sections 15.4 and 15.5), as well as being a building block for the biosynthesis of a wide range of natural products, such as phenols and macrolide antibiotics (see Box 10.4). 

Acyl residues are usually activated by transfer to coenzyme A (2). In coenzyme A (see p. 12), pantetheine is linked to 3 -phos-pho-ADP by a phosphoric acid anhydride bond. Pantetheine consists of three components connected by amide bonds—pantoic acid, alanine, and cysteamine. The latter two components are biogenic amines formed by the decarboxylation of aspartate and cysteine, respectively. The compound formed from pantoic acid and p-alanine (pantothenic acid) has vitamin-like characteristics for humans (see p. 368). Reactions between the thiol group of the cysteamine residue and carboxylic acids give rise to thioesters, such as acetyl CoA. This reaction is strongly endergonic, and it is therefore coupled to exergonic processes. Thioesters represent the activated form of carboxylic adds, because acyl residues of this type have a high chemical potential and are easily transferred to other molecules. This property is often exploited in metabolism. 

Vitamins are small organic molecules which in small amounts are obligatory nutrients and used by the body as co-factors in a multitude of metabolic processes. They play a role in hormone production, are necessary for blood cell formation and for producing nervous-system constituents, and they are ingredients for the formation of genetic material. There are no chemical relationships between the various vitamins and mostly also their most physiological actions are not related. 

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