Question

Glutamine has many roles in the human body. Which of the following is a correct description of the role of glutamine?

	A.	Non-toxic carrier of ammonia (amino groups) from neural tissues to the liver
	B.	Donator of nitrogen atoms and/or amino groups in amino acid biosynthesis
	C.	Donator of nitrogen atoms and/or amino groups in nucleotide biosynthesis
	D.	Monomeric unit of polypeptides
	E.	All of the above are roles of glutamine

Answer 1

All of the above are the roles of glutamine

• The non-toxic storage and transport form of ammonia in the liver is glutamine.
• Ammonia is loaded via glutamine synthetase by the reaction , NH3 + glutamate → glutamine.
• The metabolic fates of glutamine can be  divided into reactions that use its γ-nitrogen and those that use the α-nitrogen
• The γ-nitrogen amide group of glutamine is donor of nitrogen for  synthesis of both purine and pyrimidine.
• It plays major role in synthesis of protein and monomeric units in polypeptide