Description

• Application: L-Alanine has been used for tissue culture technique as a media component. It has been used as a media component for the growth of adult mouse keratinocytes.[1][2]
• Biochem/physiol Actions: L-Alanine is a nonessential amino acid, which is highly concentrated in muscle.[3] It is a key player in the Glucose-Alanine cycle, which enables the removal of pyruvate and glutamate from muscle to the liver.[4][5] Once in the liver, glucose is regenerated from pyruvate and returned to the muscle while glutamate ultimately participates in the urea cycle to form urea. The Glucose-Alanine cycle aides to conserve ATP in muscle for muscle contraction, while the energy burden of gluconeogenesis is imposed upon the liver.[5][3] Alanine inhibits pyruvate kinase to regulate gluconeogenesis and glycolysis in order to maintain glucose homeostasis during starvation. Alanine prevents hepatic autophagy. Alanine formation is a result of transamination of glutamate and pyruvate.[4][3]