Medical dictionary. 2011.
nonessential amino acid — n any of various alpha amino acids which are required for normal health and growth, which can be synthesized within the body or derived in the body from essential amino acids, and which include alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine,… … Medical dictionary
excitatory amino acids — a group of nonessential amino acids that act as excitatory neurotransmitters in the central nervous system, including glutamic acid or L glutamate, aspartic acid or L aspartate, and the excitotoxins … Medical dictionary
nonessential amino acid — noun Those of the naturally occurring amino acids, that the human body can synthesize for itself, and so need not be provided by dietary protein. See Also: essential amino acid … Wiktionary
Amino acid synthesis — For the non biological synthesis of amino acids see: Strecker amino acid synthesis Amino acid synthesis is the set of biochemical processes (metabolic pathways) by which the various amino acids are produced from other compounds. The substrates… … Wikipedia
nonessential — adjective Date: 1751 1. not essential 2. being a substance synthesized by the body in sufficient quantity to satisfy dietary needs < nonessential amino acids > compare essential 2b • nonessential noun … New Collegiate Dictionary
nonessential — [nän΄ə sen′shəl] adj. 1. not essential; of relatively no importance; unnecessary 2. Biochem. designating biological compounds, esp. amino acids, required by living systems, that can be made in adequate amounts from other dietary constituents n. a … English World dictionary
Amino acid — This article is about the class of chemicals. For the structures and properties of the standard proteinogenic amino acids, see Proteinogenic amino acid. The generic structure of an alpha amino acid in its unionized form … Wikipedia
Amino acid — One of the 20 building blocks of protein. The sequence of amino acids in a protein and, hence, the function of that protein are determined by the genetic code in the DNA. Amino acids are molecules that (in technical terms) contain a basic amino… … Medical dictionary
Essential amino acid — An essential amino acid or indispensable amino acid is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized de novo by the organism (usually referring to humans), and therefore must be supplied in the diet. Contents 1 Essentiality vs. conditional… … Wikipedia
alpha-amino acid — al·pha ami·no acid or à ami·no acid ə .mē nō n any of the more than 20 amino acids that have an amino group in the alpha position with most having the general formula RCH(NH2)COOH, that are synthesized in plant and animal tissues, that are… … Medical dictionary
