Tyrosine (named after
Greek tyros (cheese), where it was first discovered) is an
amino acid (see there for chemical structure). It is one of the 20 amino acids that are used by
cells to
synthesize proteins. It plays a key role in
signal transduction, as it can be
tagged with a phosphate group by
protein kinases (phosphorylated
?) to alter the functionality and/or activity of
enzymes.
Another important biological function of Tyrosine is as the precursor for the synthesis of the
thyroid hormone Thyroxine
?.
Chemical properties:
- Isoelectric point : 5.64
- Mass : 181.19
- Abbreviations : Tyr / Y
- Side chain : hydrophilic
- Chemical formula : C9O3H11N