Students and teachers come together with terms like “Amino acid abbreviations” – but scientists use these abbreviated forms to refer to the 20+ names of amino acids as well.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and they can be gotten from food. Before we get into the amino acid abbreviations you may want to know that there are two main types of amino acids (with a few exceptions)…
Essential and Non-essential amino acids
Essential amino acids does not mean they are “essential” as in necessary… it simply means that they can only be gotten from the food you eat so must be included through diet or dietary supplementation. Protein foods like meats (beef, chicken, pork, etc.) and eggs, as well as fish, are excellent sources of amino acids. Many meat-eating Americans actually eat an overabundance of protein compared with what the human body requires, which can lead to acidity (which leads to disease), cardiovascular and other diseases.
Non-essential amino acids are those that your body can produce naturally. Occasionally, someone is born with a deficiency in their body’s ability to produce the amino acids necessary for proper functioning, leading to diseases or disorders where people have trouble breaking down certain amino acids. An example of the latter is Maple Syrup Urine Disorder (MSUD) which is what newborn babies are screened for soon after birth.
There are 22 different amino acids in all (some of them semi-essential), but about 20 of them are more common. Their names, 3-letter, and 1-letter amino acid abbreviations follow.
Table of amino acid abbreviations
|
Amino Acid |
3-Letter |
1-Letter |
|
Alanine |
Ala |
A |
|
Arginine |
Arg |
R |
|
Asparagine |
Asn |
N |
|
Aspartic acid |
Asp |
D |
|
Cysteine |
Cys |
C |
|
Glutamic acid |
Glu |
E |
|
Glutamine |
Gln |
Q |
|
Glycine |
Gly |
G |
|
Histidine |
His |
H |
|
Isoleucine |
Ile |
I |
|
Leucine |
Leu |
L |
|
Lysine |
Lys |
K |
|
Methionine |
Met |
M |
|
Phenylalanine |
Phe |
F |
|
Proline |
Pro |
P |
|
Serine |
Ser |
S |
|
Threonine |
Thr |
T |
|
Trp |
W |
|
|
Tyrosine |
Tyr |
Y |
|
Valine |
Val |
V |
|
Aspartic acid or Asparagine |
Asx |
B |
|
Any amino acid |
Xaa |
X |
|
Termination codon |
TERM |
|
For more information on amino acid abbreviations or more detailed information on amino acids in general, please see other articles at the Amino Acid Information Center. There are also many excellent resources on the Internet or in encyclopedias.
Reference:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Class/MLACourse/Modules/MolBioReview/iupac_aa_abbreviations.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid#In_human_nutrition
http://www.newbornscreening.info/Parents/aminoaciddisorders/MSUD.html