Name

3-letter code

1-letter code

Neumonic

pka

Relative abundance (%)

Volume (^3)

Chemical Structure

Click on the images below to view the 3D structures, (i.e., for link to coordinates).

Glycine

Gly

G

Glycine

-

7.5

48

flexible, seen in turns

Alanine

Ala

A

Alanine

-

9.0

67

hydrophobic, unreactive

Valine

Val

V

Valine

-

6.9

105

hydrophobic, unreactive, stiff, B-substitution

Leucine

Leu

L

Leucine

-

7.5

124

hydrophobic, unreactive

Isoleucine

Ile

I

Isoleucine

-

4.6

124

hydrophobic, unreactive, stiff, B-substitution

Methionene

Met

M

Methionine

-

1.7

124

thio-ether, only unbranched nonpolar, metal binding site

Cysteine

Cys

C

Cysteine

8.33

2.8

86

thiol, disulfide cross-links, binds to iron and zinc, nucleophile in proteases

Proline

Pro

P

Proline

-

4.6

90

2° amine, stiff, 20% cis, seen in turns

Phenylalanine

Phe

F

Fenylalanine

-

3.5

135

hydrophobic, unreactive, polarizable, UVmax=280nm

Tryptophan

Trp

W

tWo rings

-

1.1

163

largest amino acid, hydrophobic, fluorescent, UVmax = 250nm, charge transfer

Serine

Ser

S

Serine

-

7.1

73

hydroxyl, nucleophile in serine proteases

Threonine

Thr

T

Threonine

-

6.0

93

hydroxyl, stiff, B-substitution

Tyrosine

Tyr

Y

Tyrosine

10.13

3.5

141

aromatic, hydroxyl

Asparagine

Asn

N

AsparagiNe

-

4.4

91

Glutamine

Gln

Q

Qutamine

-

3.9

114

Lysine

Lys

K

Before L

10.79

7.0

135

amine base, floppy

Arginine

Arg

R

Arginine

12.48

4.7

148

guanido base, good charge couple with acid

Histidine

His

H

Histidine

6.04

2.1

118

imidazole acid or base; pKa = pH(physio), member of catalytic triad in serine proteases, binds to copper and zinc

Aspartic Acid

Asp

D

AsparDic

3.90

5.5

91

carboxylic acid, in active sites for cleavage of C-O bonds, member of catalytic triad in serine proteases, binds to calcium

Glutamic Acid

Glu

E

GluEtamic

4.07

6.2

109

carboxylic acid, binds to calcium

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