To print mutiple slides on one page, reduce your page setup percentage Synthesis of amino acids requires a carbon skeleton and nitrogen. While plants can use ammonia to make all 20 amino acids, animals must derive their nitrogen from dietary amino acids. Once a protein has been broken down into individual residues, degradation of amino acids begins by separating the carbon skeleton from the amino group. The amino group can be used to synthesize other nitrogen-containing compounds, or can be converted into an excretory product, like urea. Amino acid degradation begins with the removal of the amino group.
Transaminases catalyze the transfer of amino groups from amino acids to alpha-keto acids.
The reaction yields the alpha-keto acid of the original amino acid, and a new amino acid. Transamination can move amino groups between amino acids, but it does not result in a net production of ammonia. Oxidative deamination of other amino acids can be catalyzed by non-specific amino acid oxidases. Glutamate dehydrogenase catalyzes the reductive amination of alpha-ketoglutarate during amino acid degradation. In a different reaction which is ATP-dependent, glutamine synthetase forms glutamine from glutamate and ammonia.