amino acid

Also known as amino acids

organic compound containing both amino and acidic functional groups, important in biology

AI overview

Amino acids are organic molecules that contain both amino and acidic parts, and they serve as the building blocks that make up proteins in living things. Because proteins are essential for nearly every biological process—from building muscle to fighting infections—amino acids are fundamental to how life works.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

1,707,309 papers

Amino acid metabolism, transport and signalling in the liver revisited.ReviewBiochemical pharmacology · 2022Paulusma CC, Lamers WH, Broer S et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2022.115074
Amino acid transporters as modulators of glucose homeostasis.ReviewTrends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM · 2022Bröer SDOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2021.11.004
D-Amino acid metabolism in bacteria.ReviewJournal of biochemistry · 2021Miyamoto T, Homma HDOI: 10.1093/jb/mvab043
Amino Acid Transport Across the Mammalian Intestine.ReviewComprehensive Physiology · 2018Bröer S, Fairweather SJDOI: 10.1002/cphy.c170041
Amino acid synthesis deficiencies.ReviewHandbook of clinical neurology · 2013de Koning TJDOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-59565-2.00047-2
Multifunctional enzymes related to amino acid metabolism in bacteria.ReviewBioscience, biotechnology, and biochemistry · 2024Miyamoto TDOI: 10.1093/bbb/zbae027
Amino Acid Derived Prodrugs: An Approach to Improve the Bioavailability of Clinically Approved Drugs.ReviewCurrent topics in medicinal chemistry · 2021Singh Y, Saklani S, Tantra T et al.DOI: 10.2174/1568026621666210602154438
Amino acid metabolism in diabetic kidney disease.ReviewClinical and experimental nephrology · 2026Mise KDOI: 10.1007/s10157-025-02809-2

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Subclass of: organic acid
Image: Molecular structures of the 21 proteinogenic amino acids.svg

Show 8 more facts

Commons category: Amino acids
topic's main category: Category:Amino acids
NCI Thesaurus ID: C231
exact match: gbol.life/0.1/AminoAcid
topic has template: Template:Proteinogenic amino acids
has characteristic: amphoterism
different from: proteinogenic amino acid
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~39 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Structure of a typical L-alpha-amino acid in the "neutral" form

Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 appear in the genetic code of life.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “amino acid” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.