Glutamic acid

Glutamic acid is a protein-building amino acid with a side-chain carboxyl group. In biological fluids, it predominantly exists as glutamate, which also functions as a major excitatory neurotransmitter.

Amino acid: An organic molecule containing amino and carboxyl groups; protein-building amino acids also have a distinctive side chain. Glutamic acid is one of the amino acids incorporated into proteins.
Glutamate dehydrogenase: An enzyme that reversibly converts glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate while transferring nitrogen as ammonium. It links glutamate metabolism to both nitrogen handling and cellular energy pathways.
Protein synthesis: The cellular process of translating genetic information into a chain of amino acids. Ribosomes use glutamic acid as one of the amino acids in encoded proteins.
Basic amino acid: An amino acid whose side chain can carry a positive charge under physiological conditions. Basic side chains contrast with glutamic acid's negatively charged acidic side chain.
Glutamate: The negatively charged form of glutamic acid that predominates near physiological pH and serves as a neurotransmitter. The names distinguish the protonated acid from the form most common in cells.
Glutamine synthetase: An enzyme that uses ATP to combine glutamate and ammonium into glutamine. It removes free glutamate by storing its nitrogen in glutamine.
Monosodium glutamate: The sodium salt of glutamic acid, widely used as a flavor enhancer associated with umami taste. It supplies glutamate in foods, where glutamate activates umami taste receptors.
Essential amino acid: An amino acid that humans must obtain from the diet because the body cannot make enough. Glutamic acid is nonessential, unlike amino acids that require dietary supply.
Glutamine: A polar amino acid with an amide side chain, made from glutamate by adding nitrogen. It is a closely related amino acid and a major route for handling glutamate-derived nitrogen.
Glutaminase: An enzyme that converts glutamine into glutamate and ammonium. It regenerates glutamate from glutamine in metabolic and neurotransmitter-producing cells.

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