taurine
Sign in to saveTaurine (; IUPAC: 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the chemical formula in its non-zwitterionic form and in its zwitterionic form, and is a non-proteinogenic amino sulfonic acid widely distributed in mammalian tissues and organs. Structurally, by containing a sulfonic acid group instead of a carboxylic acid group, it is not involved in protein synthesis but is still usually referred to as an amino acid. As non-proteinogenic amino sulfonic acid, it is not encoded by the genetic code and is distinguished from the protein-building α-amino acids.
AI overview
Taurine is a naturally occurring compound found throughout mammalian tissues that resembles an amino acid in structure but doesn't participate in building proteins like regular amino acids do. Because it contains a sulfonic acid group rather than a carboxylic acid group, it operates differently in the body and isn't encoded by your genes the way protein-building amino acids are.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Discovery and name
- In nature
- Chemical and biochemical features
- Biosynthesis
- Chemical synthesis
- In food
- Breast milk
- Energy drinks and dietary supplements
- Research
- Safety and toxicity
- Animal dietary requirement
- Cats
- Other mammals
- Birds
- Fish
- Derivatives
- See also
- References
Taurine (; IUPAC: 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the chemical formula in its non-zwitterionic form and in its zwitterionic form, and is a non-proteinogenic amino sulfonic acid widely distributed in mammalian tissues and organs. Structurally, by containing a sulfonic acid group instead of a carboxylic acid group, it is not involved in protein synthesis but is still usually referred to as an amino acid. As non-proteinogenic amino sulfonic acid, it is not encoded by the genetic code and is distinguished from the protein-building α-amino acids.
Taurine is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine. It is named after Latin , meaning bull or ox, as it was first isolated from ox bile in 1827 by German scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin.