Of methionine

When exposed to sunlight, it is converted to a white insoluble resin, disacryl. Oxidized by air to propenoic acid small amounts of hy-droquinone will inhibit this. Bromine forms a dibromide which is converted by barium hydroxide into DL-fructose. The acrid odour of burning fats is due to traces of propenal. It is used in the production of methionine and in controlled polymerization reactions to give acrolein polymers. ... 

A naturally occurring sulfonium salt S adenosylmethionme (SAM) is a key sub stance in certain biological processes It is formed by a nucleophilic substitution m which the sulfur atom of methionine attacks the primary carbon of adenosine triphosphate dis placing the triphosphate leaving group as shown m Figure 16 7... 

Compared with the alkyl groups of the four just mentioned the presence of sulfur makes the side chain of methionine (R = —CH2CH2SCH3) somewhat more polarizable Greater polarizability leads to stronger dispersion forces... 

In addition to illustrating the mechanics of translation Figure 28 12 is important m that It shows the mechanism of peptide bond formation as a straightforward nude ophilic acyl substitution Both methionine and alanine are attached to their respective tRNAs as esters The ammo group of alanine attacks the methionine carbonyl displac mg methionine from its tRNA and converting the carbonyl group of methionine from an ester to an amide function... 

Methylmercaptopropionaldehyde is also used to make the methionine hydroxy analog CH2SCH2CH2CH(OH)COOH [583-91 -5] which is used commercially as an effective source of methionine activity (71). AH commercial syntheses of methionine and methionine hydroxy analog are based on the use of acrolein as a raw material. More than 170,000 tons of this amino acid are produced yearly (30) (see Amino acids). One method for the preparation of methionine from acrolein via 3-methyhnercaptopropionaldehyde is as follows. 

Tables 2, 3, and 4 hst compositional and nutritional data of selected algae. Mote extensive compilations on algae ate available (26,58). Algae tend to have lower contents of methionine than is deskable in human and animal nutrition and supplementation with this amino acid is necessary with many species (Table 4).

The sulfur amino acid content of soy protein can be enhanced by preparing plasteins from soy protein hydrolysate and sources of methionine or cystine, such as ovalbumin hydrolysate (plastein AB), wool keratin hydrolysate (plastein AC), or L-methionine ethyl ester [3082-77-7] (alkaU saponified plastein) (153). Typical PER values for a 1 2 mixture of plastein AC and soybean, and a 1 3 mixture of alkah-saponified plastein and soybean protein, were 2.86 and 3.38, respectively, as compared with 1.28 for the soy protein hydrolysate and 2.40 for casein. 

Detoxifica.tlon. Detoxification systems in the human body often involve reactions that utilize sulfur-containing compounds. For example, reactions in which sulfate esters of potentially toxic compounds are formed, rendering these less toxic or nontoxic, are common as are acetylation reactions involving acetyl—SCoA (45). Another important compound is. Vadenosylmethionine [29908-03-0] (SAM), the active form of methionine. SAM acts as a methylating agent, eg, in detoxification reactions such as the methylation of pyridine derivatives, and in the formation of choline (qv), creatine [60-27-5] carnitine [461-06-3] and epinephrine [329-65-7] (50). 

Arsenic. Arsenic is under consideration for inclusion as an essential element. No clear role has been estabHshed, but aresenic, long thought to be a poison, may be involved in methylation of macromolecules and as an effector of methionine metaboHsm (158,160). Most research has focused on the toxicity or pharmaceutical properties of arsenic (158). 

An estimation of the amount of amino acid production and the production methods are shown ia Table 11. About 340,000 t/yr of L-glutamic acid, principally as its monosodium salt, are manufactured ia the world, about 85% ia the Asian area. The demand for DL-methionine and L-lysiae as feed supplements varies considerably depending on such factors as the soybean harvest ia the United States and the anchovy catch ia Pern. Because of the actions of D-amiao acid oxidase and i.-amino acid transamiaase ia the animal body (156), the D-form of methionine is as equally nutritive as the L-form, so that DL-methionine which is iaexpensively produced by chemical synthesis is primarily used as a feed supplement. In the United States the methionine hydroxy analogue is partially used ia place of methionine. The consumption of L-lysiae has iacreased ia recent years. The world consumption tripled from 35,000 t ia 1982 to 100,000 t ia 1987 (214). Current world consumption of L-tryptophan and i.-threonine are several tens to hundreds of tons. The demand for L-phenylalanine as the raw material for the synthesis of aspartame has been increasing markedly. 

Methanethiol has been found in sewer gases (8,9) and is thought to be produced by the bacterial degradation of methionine. Methanethiol,... 

The mixture of D and L optical forms of this hydroxy analogue of methionine is converted to the calcium salt which is used in animal feed supplements. Cyanohydrins react with ammonium carbonate to form hydantoins (2), which yield amino acids upon hydrolysis. Commercial DL-methionine [59-57-8] is produced by hydrolysis of the hydantoin of 3-meth5ithiopropionaldehyde [3268-49-3]. 

As an example of analysis of side-chain dihedral angles, the Bayesian analysis of methionine side-chain dihedrals is given in Table 3 for the ri = rotamers. In cases where there are a large number of data—for example, the (3, 3, 3) rotamer—the data and posterior distributions are essentially identical. These are normal distributions with the averages and standard variations given in the table. But in cases where there are few data. 

Table 3 Bayesian Analysis of Methionine Side Cham Dihedral Angles ...

FIGURE 16.7 Nucleophilic substitution at the primary carbon of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by the sulfur atom of methionine yields S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). The reaction is catalyzed by an enzyme. 

What is the amino acid sequence (using three-letter abbrevia- tions) of methionine enkephalin Also show it using one-letter abbreviations. I... 

Fatty acids with odd numbers of carbon atoms are rare in mammals, but fairly common in plants and marine organisms. Humans and animals whose diets include these food sources metabolize odd-carbon fatty acids via the /3-oxida-tion pathway. The final product of /3-oxidation in this case is the 3-carbon pro-pionyl-CoA instead of acetyl-CoA. Three specialized enzymes then carry out the reactions that convert propionyl-CoA to succinyl-CoA, a TCA cycle intermediate. (Because propionyl-CoA is a degradation product of methionine, valine, and isoleucine, this sequence of reactions is also important in amino acid catabolism, as we shall see in Chapter 26.) The pathway involves an initial carboxylation at the a-carbon of propionyl-CoA to produce D-methylmalonyl-CoA (Figure 24.19). The reaction is catalyzed by a biotin-dependent enzyme, propionyl-CoA carboxylase. The mechanism involves ATP-driven carboxylation of biotin at Nj, followed by nucleophilic attack by the a-carbanion of propi-onyl-CoA in a stereo-specific manner. 

Roberts, L. M., Ray, M. J., Shih, T. W., et al., 1997. Strnctnral analy.sis of apolipoprotein A-I Limited proteolysis of methionine-rednced and -oxidized lipid-free and lipid-bonnd human Apo A-I. Biochemistry 36 7615. 

Me2Se, HF, m-cresol, 0°, 60 min. These conditions are also excellent for reduction of methionine sulfoxide [Met(O)]. ... 

Fig. 2-14. The effect of organic modifier on retention, selectivity and resolution of methionine on teicoplanin CSP (250 x 4.6 mm). The flow rate was 1.0 mL min at ambient temperature (23 °C).

Divalent sulfur compounds are achiral, but trivalent sulfur compounds called sulfonium stilts (R3S+) can be chiral. Like phosphines, sulfonium salts undergo relatively slow inversion, so chiral sulfonium salts are configurationally stable and can be isolated. The best known example is the coenzyme 5-adenosylmethionine, the so-called biological methyl donor, which is involved in many metabolic pathways as a source of CH3 groups. (The S" in the name S-adenosylmethionine stands for sulfur and means that the adeno-syl group is attached to the sulfur atom of methionine.) The molecule has S stereochemistry at sulfur ana is configurationally stable for several days at room temperature. Jts R enantiomer is also known but has no biological activity. 

Proteins can be cleaved specifically at the amide bond on the carboxyl side of methionine residues by reaction with cyanogen bromide. BrC=N. 

Pyridoxamine phosphate serves as a coenzyme of transaminases, e.g., lysyl oxidase (collagen biosynthesis), serine hydroxymethyl transferase (Cl-metabolism), S-aminolevulinate synthase (porphyrin biosynthesis), glycogen phosphoiylase (mobilization of glycogen), aspartate aminotransferase (transamination), alanine aminotransferase (transamination), kynureninase (biosynthesis of niacin), glutamate decarboxylase (biosynthesis of GABA), tyrosine decarboxylase (biosynthesis of tyramine), serine dehydratase ((3-elimination), cystathionine 3-synthase (metabolism of methionine), and cystathionine y-lyase (y-elimination). 

Unfortunately, the chapter on biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of sulfones and sulfoxides planned for this volume did not materialize. In view of the importance and interest of methionine sulfoxide, we decided to include this chapter although, unlike the other chapters, it does not deal with the title groups in toto but only with a single representative of them. 

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