Branched-chain amino acids

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The phrase branched-chain amino acids or BCAA is sometimes used to refer to the amino acids having aliphatic side-chains that are non-linear. These are leucine, isoleucine and valine.^[1]

leucine

valine

The combination of these three essential amino acids makes up approximately 1/3 of skeletal muscle in the human body, and plays an important role in protein synthesis. BCAA’s are currently used clinically to aid in the recovery of burn victims, as well as for supplementation for strength athletes.

[edit] Degradation

The body uses branched chain aminotransferase and 3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate dehydrogenase to degrade branched-chain amino acids.

[edit] References and notes

[edit] See also

• Branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex

[edit] External links

• MeSH Branched-chain+amino+acids

v • d • e Metabolism map Glucuronate metabolism Pentose interconversion Inositol metabolism Cellulose and sucrose metabolism Starch and glycogen metabolism Other sugar metabolism Pentose phosphate pathway Glycolysis and Gluconeogenesis Amino sugars metabolism Small amino acid synthesis Branched amino acid synthesis Purine biosynthesis Histidine metabolism Aromatic amino acid synthesis Pyruvate decarboxylation Fermentation Fatty acid metabolism Urea cycle Aspartate amino acid group synthesis Porphyrins and corrinoids metabolism Citric acid cycle Glutamate amino acid group synthesis Pyrimidine biosynthesis  v • d • e  All pathway labels on this image are links, simply click to access the article. A high resolution labeled version of this image is available here.