The aromatic amino acids

Knowledge of the chemical pathways of the catabolism of phenylalanine and tyrosine has been greatly aided by study of the defects in 

Block in phenylpyruvic oligophrenia. 2. Block in tyrosinosis. 3. Block in alcaptonuria. 4. Impairment in ascorbic acid deficiency. 

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The mode of action is by inhibiting 5-enolpymvyl-shikimate-3-phosphate synthase. Roundup shuts down the production of the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophane (30). Whereas all these amino acids are essential to the survival of the plant, tryptophane is especially important because it is the progenitor for indole-3-acetic acid, or auxin, which plays an important role in growth and development, and controls cell extension and organogenesis. 

Herbicides also inhibit 5- (9/-pymvylshikiniate synthase, a susceptible en2yme in the pathway to the aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan, and to the phenylpropanes. Acetolactate synthase, or acetohydroxy acid synthase, a key en2yme in the synthesis of the branched-chain amino acids isoleucine and valine, is also sensitive to some herbicides. Glyphosate (26), the sulfonylureas (136), and the imida2oles (137) all inhibit specific en2ymes in amino acid synthesis pathways. 

Appllca.tlons. Various A/-derivatives of amino acids (qv) are resolvable on BSA columns. These /V-amino acid derivatives include ben2enesulfonyl-, phthalimido-, S-dimethylarnino-l-naphthalenesulfonyl- (DANSYL-), 2,4-dinitrophenyl- (DNP-), and 2,3,6-trinitrophenyl- (TNP-) derivatives (30). Amines such as Prilocain, ( )-2-(prop5lamino)-(9-propiono-toluidide, a local anesthetic (Astra Pharm. Co.), are also resolved on BSA. The aromatic amino acids DL-tryptophan, 5-hydroxy-DL-tryptophan, DL-kynurenine [343-65-7] C qH 2N 2 3 3-hydroxy-DT.-kynurenine [484-78-6] and dmgs... 

The earliest references to cinnamic acid, cinnamaldehyde, and cinnamyl alcohol are associated with thek isolation and identification as odor-producing constituents in a variety of botanical extracts. It is now generally accepted that the aromatic amino acid L-phenylalanine [63-91-2] a primary end product of the Shikimic Acid Pathway, is the precursor for the biosynthesis of these phenylpropanoids in higher plants (1,2). 

FIGURE 4.15 The ultraviolet absorption spectra of the aromatic amino acids at pH 6. 

Chymotrypsin shows a strong preference for hydrolyzing peptide bonds formed by the carboxyl groups of the aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. Flowever, over time chymotrypsin also hydrolyzes amide bonds involving amino acids other than Phe, Tyr, or Trp. Peptide bonds having leucine-donated carboxyls become particularly susceptible. Thus, the specificity... 

Surveys of the frequency with which various residues appear in helices and sheets show that some residues, such as alanine, glutamate, and methionine, occur much more frequently in a-helices than do others. In contrast, glycine and proline are the least likely residues to be found in an a-helix. Likewise, certain residues, including valine, isoleucine, and the aromatic amino acids, are more likely to be found in /3-sheets than other residues, and aspartate, glutamate, and proline are much less likely to be found in /3-sheets. 

As noted previously in Section 11.10, biological dehydrations are also common and usually occur by an ElcB mechanism on a substrate in which the -OH group is two carbons away from a carbonyl group. An example occurs in the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acid tyrosine. A base first abstracts a proton from the carbon adjacent to the carbonyl group, and the anion intermediate... 

The mature domain contains a very high percentage of the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine (>10% on a molar basis). 

Oldiges, M., Kunze, M., Degenring, D. et al. (2004) Stimulation, monitoring, and analysis of pathway dynamics by metabolic profiling in the aromatic amino acid pathway. Biotechnology Progress, 20, 1623-1633. 

Although the absence of paracellular transport across the BBB impedes the entry of small hydrophilic compounds into the brain, low-molecular-weight lipophilic substances may pass through the endothelial cell membranes and cytosol by passive diffusion [7]. While this physical barrier cannot protect the brain against chemicals, the metabolic barrier formed by the enzymes from the endothelial cell cytosol may transform these chemicals. Compounds transported through the BBB by carrier-mediated systems may also be metabolized. Thus, l-DOPA is transported through the BBB and then decarboxylated to dopamine by the aromatic amino acid decarboxylase [7]. 

The side chains of the aromatic amino acids (Phe, Tyr and Trp) are not particularly reactive chemically, but they all absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. Tyr and Trp in particular absorb strongly at 280 nm, allowing detection and quantification of proteins in solution by measuring the absorbance at this wavelength. 

In microsomes from Sinapis alba L.,33,34 Tropaeolum majus L.,35,36 and Carica papaya L.,37 the aromatic amino acids (tyrosine and phenylalanine) have been shown to be converted to the corresponding oximes by cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenases. The conversion of tyrosine to the corresponding oxime in microsomes from S. alba was approximately 1000 fold lower than in microsomes from the cyanogenic sorghum.33 This made a biochemical approach for the isolation... 

The fluorimetric methods often offer improved specificity and sensitivity over colorimetric procedures and the quantitative assays for the aromatic amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine illustrate this point. 

A method for determination of the aromatic amino acid phenylalanine (45), tyrosine (46) and tryptophan (47) content of peptides at low microgram levels is based on size-exclusion HPLC combined with UVD using a diode array, and data processing of the... 

Konev(10) and Vladimirov(n) were carrying out similar work in the Soviet Union. In 1957, Teale and Weber0 2) reported the first careful, thorough investigation of the fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of the aromatic amino acids. 

The aromatic amino acids each have two major absorption bands in the wavelength region between 200 and 300 nm (see reviews by Beaven and Holiday(13) and Wetlaufer(14). The lower energy band occurs near 280 nm for tryptophan, 277 nm for tyrosine, and 258 nm for phenylalanine, and the extinction coefficients at these wavelengths are in the ratio 27 7 l.(14) As a result of the spectral distributions and relative extinction coefficients of the aromatic amino acids, tryptophan generally dominates the absorption, fluorescence, and phosphorescence spectra of proteins that also contain either of the other two aromatic amino acids. 

Resonance energy transfer between the aromatic amino acids proceeds by very weak coupling between the donor and acceptor.151,52) Very weak coupling implies that the interaction between the donor and acceptor wave functions is small enough so as not to perturb measurably the individual molecular spectra. This transfer process, which is distinct from the trivial process of absorption of an emitted photon, involves radiationless deexcitation of an excited-state donor molecule with concomitant excitation of a ground-... 

The most direct demonstration of triplet-triplet energy transfer between the aromatic amino acids is the ODMR study by Rousslang and Kwiram on the tryptophanyl-tyrosinate dipeptide.(57) Since the first excited singlet state of tyrosinate is at lower energy than that of tryptophan, it is possible to excite tyrosinate preferentially. The phosphorescence of this dipeptide, however, is characteristic of tryptophan, which is consistent with the observation that the triplet state of tyrosinate is at higher energy than that of tryptophan, making tryptophan the expected triplet acceptor. 

I. Weinryb and R. F. Steiner, The luminescence of the aromatic amino acids, in Excited States of Proteins and Nucleic Acids (R. F. Steiner and I. Weinryb, eds.), pp. 277-318, Plenum Press, New York (1971). 

J. Zuclich, Triplet-state electron paramagnetic resonance of the aromatic amino acids and proteins, J. Chem. Phys. 52, 3586-3591 (1970). 

Long-lived luminescence from protein-containing materials was reported many years ago. Debye and Edwards reported that a bluish light was emitted from proteins at cryogenic temperatures after illumination/11 Work in the 1950s established the relationship between fluorescence and the long-lived phosphorescence for the aromatic amino acids in proteins/2-41 Konev in his classic work Fluorescence and Phosphorescence of Proteins and Nucleic Acids summarized this early history.1(5)... 

Native fluorescence of a protein is due largely to the presence of the aromatic amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine. Tryptophan has an excitation maximum at 280 nm and emits at 340 to 350 nm. The amino acid composition of the target protein is one factor that determines if the direct measurement of a protein s native fluorescence is feasible. Another consideration is the protein s conformation, which directly affects its fluorescence spectrum. As the protein changes conformation, the emission maximum shifts to another wavelength. Thus, native fluorescence may be used to monitor protein unfolding or interactions. The conformation-dependent nature of native fluorescence results in measurements specific for the protein in a buffer system or pH. Consequently, protein denatur-ation may be used to generate more reproducible fluorescence measurements. 

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