Asparagine

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l-Asparagine
Skeletal formula of L-asparagine
Skeletal formula of L-asparagine
Ball-and-stick model of the L-asparagine molecule as a zwitterion
Names
IUPAC name
Asparagine
Other names
2-Amino-3-carbamoylpropanoic acid
Identifiers
3D model (
JSmol
)
ChEBI
ChEMBL
ChemSpider
DrugBank
ECHA InfoCard
100.019.565 Edit this at Wikidata
EC Number
  • 200-735-9
IUPHAR/BPS
KEGG
UNII
  • InChI=1S/C4H8N2O3/c5-2(4(8)9)1-3(6)7/h2H,1,5H2,(H2,6,7)(H,8,9)/t2-/m0/s1 checkY
    Key: DCXYFEDJOCDNAF-REOHCLBHSA-N checkY
  • InChI=1/C4H8N2O3/c5-2(4(8)9)1-3(6)7/h2H,1,5H2,(H2,6,7)(H,8,9)/t2-/m0/s1
    Key: DCXYFEDJOCDNAF-REOHCLBHBD
  • O=C(N)C[C@H](N)C(=O)O
  • Zwitterion: O=C(N)C[C@H]([NH3+])C(=O)[O-]
Properties
C4H8N2O3
Molar mass 132.119 g·mol−1
Appearance white crystals
Density 1.543 g/cm3
Melting point 234 °C (453 °F; 507 K)
Boiling point 438 °C (820 °F; 711 K)
2.94 g/100 mL
Solubility soluble in
acids, bases, negligible in methanol, ethanol, ether, benzene
log P −3.82
Acidity (pKa)
  • 2.1 (carboxyl; 20 °C, H2O)
  • 8.80 (amino; 20 °C, H2O)[1]
-69.5·10−6 cm3/mol
Structure
orthorhombic
Thermochemistry
Std enthalpy of
formation
fH298)
−789.4 kJ/mol
Hazards
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)
NFPA 704 four-colored diamondHealth 1: Exposure would cause irritation but only minor residual injury. E.g. turpentineFlammability 0: Will not burn. E.g. waterInstability 0: Normally stable, even under fire exposure conditions, and is not reactive with water. E.g. liquid nitrogenSpecial hazards (white): no code
1
0
0
Flash point 219 °C (426 °F; 492 K)
Safety data sheet (SDS) Sigma-Alrich
Supplementary data page
Asparagine (data page)
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
checkY verify (what is checkY☒N ?)

Asparagine (symbol Asn or N

codons
AAU and AAC.

The one-letter symbol N for asparagine was assigned arbitrarily,[3] with the proposed mnemonic asparagiNe;[4]

History

Asparagine was first isolated in 1806 in a crystalline form by French chemists Louis Nicolas Vauquelin and Pierre Jean Robiquet (then a young assistant). It was isolated from asparagus juice,[5][6] in which it is abundant, hence the chosen name. It was the first amino acid to be isolated.[7]

Three years later, in 1809, Pierre Jean Robiquet identified a substance from

liquorice root with properties which he qualified as very similar to those of asparagine,[8] and which Plisson identified in 1828 as asparagine itself.[9][10]

The determination of asparagine's structure required decades of research. The empirical formula for asparagine was first determined in 1833 by the French chemists Antoine François Boutron Charlard and Théophile-Jules Pelouze; in the same year, the German chemist Justus Liebig provided a more accurate formula.[11][12] In 1846 the Italian chemist Raffaele Piria treated asparagine with nitrous acid, which removed the molecule's amine (–NH2) groups and transformed asparagine into malic acid.[13] This revealed the molecule's fundamental structure: a chain of four carbon atoms. Piria thought that asparagine was a diamide of malic acid;[14] however, in 1862 the German chemist Hermann Kolbe showed that this surmise was wrong; instead, Kolbe concluded that asparagine was an amide of an amine of succinic acid.[15] In 1886, the Italian chemist Arnaldo Piutti (1857–1928) discovered a mirror image or "enantiomer" of the natural form of asparagine, which shared many of asparagine's properties, but which also differed from it.[16] Since the structure of asparagine was still not fully known – the location of the amine group within the molecule was still not settled[17] – Piutti synthesized asparagine and thus published its true structure in 1888.[18]

Structural function in proteins

Since the asparagine side-chain can form hydrogen bond interactions with the peptide backbone, asparagine residues are often found near the beginning of

alpha-helices as asx turns and asx motifs, and in similar turn motifs, or as amide rings, in beta sheets
. Its role can be thought as "capping" the hydrogen bond interactions that would otherwise be satisfied by the polypeptide backbone.

Asparagine also provides key sites for N-linked glycosylation, modification of the protein chain with the addition of carbohydrate chains. Typically, a carbohydrate tree can solely be added to an asparagine residue if the latter is flanked on the C side by X-serine or X-threonine, where X is any amino acid with the exception of proline.[19]

Asparagine can be hydroxylated in the HIF1

hypoxia-inducible transcription factor. This modification inhibits HIF1-mediated gene activation.[20]

Sources

Dietary sources

Asparagine is not essential for humans, which means that it can be synthesized from central metabolic pathway intermediates and is not required in the diet.

Asparagine is found in:

Biosynthesis and catabolism

The precursor to asparagine is

α-ketoglutarate and aspartate. The enzyme asparagine synthetase produces asparagine, AMP, glutamate, and pyrophosphate from aspartate, glutamine, and ATP. Asparagine synthetase uses ATP to activate aspartate, forming β-aspartyl-AMP. Glutamine donates an ammonium group, which reacts with β-aspartyl-AMP to form asparagine and free AMP.[21]

The biosynthesis of asparagine from oxaloacetate

In reaction that is the reverse of its biosynthesis, asparagine is hydrolyzed to aspartate by asparaginase. Aspartate then undergoes transamination to form glutamate and oxaloacetate from alpha-ketoglutarate. Oxaloacetate, which enters the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle).[21]

Acrylamide controversy

Heating a mixture of asparagine and

carbonyls produces acrylamide in food. These products occur in baked goods such as French fries, potato chips, and toasted bread. Acrylamide is converted in the liver to glycidamide, which is a possible carcinogen.[22]

Function

Asparagine synthetase is required for normal development of the brain.

protein synthesis during replication of poxviruses.[24]

The addition of

N-acetylglucosamine to asparagine is performed by oligosaccharyltransferase enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum.[25] This glycosylation is involved in protein structure[26] and function.[27]

References

  1. .
  2. ^ "Nomenclature and Symbolism for Amino Acids and Peptides". IUPAC-IUB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. 1983. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  3. .
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ Plimmer RH (1912) [1908]. Plimmer RH, Hopkins FG (eds.). The chemical composition of the proteins. Monographs on biochemistry. Vol. Part I. Analysis (2nd ed.). London: Longmans, Green and Co. p. 112. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  7. .
  8. ^ Robiquet PJ (1809). "Analyse de la racine de réglisse" [Analysis of licorice root]. Annales de Chimie et de Physique (in French). 72 (1): 143–159.
  9. ^ Plisson A (1828). "De l'indentité de l'asparagine avec l'agédoïte" [On the identity of asparagine with agédoïte]. Journal de Pharmacie et des Sciences Accessoires (in French). 14 (4): 177–182.
  10. ^ Felter HW, Lloyd JU (1898). "Glycyrrhiza (U. S. P.)—Glycyrrhiza". King's American Dispensatory. Henriette's Herbal Homepage.
  11. . The empirical formula of asparagine appears on p. 80.
  12. . The empirical formula appears on p. 149 ; the formula is correct if the subscripts are divided by 2.
  13. ^ See:
  14. ^ Plimmer RH (1912). The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins. Part I: Analysis (2nd ed.). London, England: Longmans, Green and Co. p. 112.
  15. .
  16. .
  17. ^ The French chemist Edouard Grimaux thought that the amine group (–NH2) was located next to the amide group (–C(O)NH2), whereas the Italian chemist Icilio Guareschi thought that the amine group was located next to the carboxyl group (–COOH).
    • Grimaux E (1875). "Recherches synthétiques sur le groupe urique" [Synthetic investigations of the uric group]. Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris. 2nd series (in French). 24: 337–355. On p. 352, Grimaux presented two putative structures for asparagine, and on p. 353, he favored structure (I.), which is incorrect. From p. 353: " … ce sont les formules marquées du chiffre I qui me semblent devoir être adoptées pour l'asparagine, … " ( … it is the formulas marked by the figure I which, it seems to me, should be adopted for asparagine, … )
    • Guareschi I (1876). "Studi sull' asparagine e sull' acido aspartico" [Studies of asparagine and of aspartic acid]. Atti della Reale Academia del Lincei. 2nd series (in Italian). 3 (pt. 2): 378–393. On p. 388, Guareschi proposed two structures (α and β) for asparagine; he favored α, the correct one. From p. 388: "La formola α mi sembra preferibile per seguente ragione: … " (The formula α seems preferable to me for the following reason: … )
    • English abstract in: Guareschi J (1877). "Asparagine and aspartic acid". Journal of the Chemical Society. 31: 457–459. See especially p. 458.
  18. ^ Piutti A (1888). "Sintesi e costituzione delle asparagine" [Synthesis and constitution of asparagine]. Gazzetta Chimica Italiana (in Italian). 18: 457–472.
  19. .
  20. .
  21. ^ . Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  22. .
  23. .
  24. .
  25. .
  26. .
  27. .

External links