Alanine (abbreviated as Ala or A) is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula CH3CH(NH2)COOH. The L-isomer is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e. the building blocks of proteins. Its codons are GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG. It is classified as a nonpolar amino acid. L-alanine is second only to leucine, accounting for 7.8% of the primary structure in a sample of 1,150 proteins. D-alanine occurs in bacterial cell walls and in some peptide anti...
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Alanine (abbreviated as Ala or A) is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula CH3CH(NH2)COOH. The L-isomer is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e. the building blocks of proteins. Its codons are GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG. It is classified as a nonpolar amino acid. L-alanine is second only to leucine, accounting for 7.8% of the primary structure in a sample of 1,150 proteins. D-alanine occurs in bacterial cell walls and in some peptide antibiotics.
The α-carbon atom of alanine is bound with a methyl group (-CH3), making it one of the simplest α-amino acids with respect to molecular structure and also resulting in alanine being classified as an aliphatic amino acid. The methyl group of alanine is non-reactive and is thus almost never directly involved in protein function.
Alanine is a nonessential amino acid, meaning it can be manufactured by the human body, and does not need to be obtained directly through the diet. Alanine is found in a wide variety of foods, but is...
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