In: Biology
Explain why nitrogen is shuttled from peripheral tissues to liver in the form of amino acids instead of being released into the blood as free ammonium ions for the liver to scavenge?
Keto acids and carbon skeletons are what remains after amino acids have had their nitrogen group removed by deamination or transamination. Transamination is used to synthesize nonessential amino acids.Alanine transaminase has an important function in the delivery of skeletal muscle carbon and nitrogen to liver.In skeletal muscle,pyruvate is transaminated to alanine, thus affording an additional route of nitrogen transport from muscle to liver.
Removal of amino group is a crucial step in amino acid catobolism.The nitrogen of the amino groups cannot be used for energy production and must be removed from our body and accordingly nitrogen is shuttled from peripheral tissues to liver in the form of amino acids instead of being released into the blood as free ammonium ions for the liver to scavenge.
Nitrogen is removed from the body by amino nitrogen conversion to a urea followed by urea excretion from the body via the urine.