Aspartic acid (aspartic acid, can be abbreviated as Asp or D) is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HOOCCH2CH(NH2)COOH. The L-isomer of aspartic acid is one of the 20 protein amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Its codons are GAU and GAC. It is the same acidic amino acid as glutamic acid. Aspartate is ubiquitously present in biosynthesis.
Function
Aspartate is highly concentrated throughout the body and brain, and as an energy amino acid, it helps trigger two of the most important metabolic pathways in the body: the Krebs Cycles (Note 2) and the Urea Cycle ( Urea Cyeles) In the Krebs cycle, carbohydrates are broken down into energy, and aspartic acid helps in the activation process that transports energy into the mitochondria, also known as the “powerhouse of the cell”, which is almost present in The tiny tissues of the body, including enzymes in biological cells responsible for converting food into usable energy
Aspartate helps to stimulate the urea cycle because it helps produce a key enzyme: Carbamyl Phosphate-CP. This enzyme helps the waste products of protein metabolism, detoxifies and forms urea, aspartate Acid also helps remove excess ammonia and nitrogen
Aspartic acid contributes to the production of pyrimidines, which are important components of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), which are the main carriers of genetic information, and aspartic acid that contributes to immunoglobulins and antibody production (a protein of the immune system). Aspartate also helps minerals such as magnesium and potassium move through the intestinal wall into the blood and cells, and can combine to form mineral salts such as magnesium aspartate and potassium aspartate to boost energy in the muscles.
biosynthesis
For mammals, aspartate is a non-essential amino acid because it can be made from oxaloacetate by transamination. For plants and microorganisms, aspartic acid is the raw material for several amino acids, including 4 essential: methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine. The conversion from aspartic acid to those amino acids begins with the conversion of aspartic acid to its “semialdehyde”. Asparagine is produced from the transamination of aspartic acid:
HO2CCH(NH2)CH2CO2H + GC(O)NH2 →HO2CCH(NH2)CH2CONH2 + GC(O)OH
(GC(O)NH2 and GC(O)OH refer to glutamine and glutamic acid, respectively)
use
Aspartic acid can be used to synthesize sweeteners, medicinally for the treatment of heart disease, as a liver function enhancer, an ammonia detoxifier, a fatigue reliever and an amino acid infusion ingredient. Aspartic acid is commonly used as an artificial sweetener aspartame, and its metabolites in each molecule are one molecule of aspartic acid, one molecule of phenylalanine and one molecule of methanol.
In addition, it can be used to synthesize potassium aspartate for hypokalemia and arrhythmia caused by digitalis poisoning.
