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The urea cycle converts highly toxic ammonia to urea for excretion. [1] This cycle was the first metabolic cycle to be discovered by Hans Krebs and Kurt Henseleit in 1932, [2] [3] [4] five years before the discovery of the TCA cycle. The urea cycle was described in more detail later on by Ratner and Cohen.
Diagram of biochemical urea cycle. Uses only capital letters, no textual description. 16:16, 5 February 2006: 800 × 600 (80 KB) Ayacop: Diagram of biochemical urea cycle. Uses only capital letters, no textual description. 16:09, 5 February 2006: 800 × 600 (80 KB) Ayacop: Diagram of biochemical urea cycle. Uses only capital letters, no textual ...
The first two steps of the urea cycle take place within the mitochondrial matrix of liver and kidney cells. In the first step ammonia is converted into carbamoyl phosphate through the investment of two ATP molecules. This step is facilitated by carbamoyl phosphate synthetase I.
The liver converts ammonia to urea through a series of reactions known as the urea cycle. Liver dysfunction, such as that seen in cirrhosis, may lead to elevated amounts of ammonia in the blood (hyperammonemia). Likewise, defects in the enzymes responsible for the urea cycle, such as ornithine transcarbamylase, lead to hyperammonemia.
Urea is synthesized in the body of many organisms as part of the urea cycle, either from the oxidation of amino acids or from ammonia. In this cycle, amino groups donated by ammonia and L-aspartate are converted to urea, while L-ornithine, citrulline, L-argininosuccinate, and L-arginine act as intermediates. Urea production occurs in the liver ...
Arginase catalyzes the fifth and final step in the urea cycle, a series of biochemical reactions in mammals during which the body disposes of harmful ammonia. Specifically, arginase converts L-arginine into L-ornithine and urea. [2] Mammalian arginase is active as a trimer, but some bacterial arginases are hexameric. [3]
Ammonia is toxic to the human system, and enzymes convert it to urea or uric acid by addition of carbon dioxide molecules (which is not considered a deamination process) in the urea cycle, which also takes place in the liver. Urea and uric acid can safely diffuse into the blood and then be excreted in urine.
[5]: 572 To the right is an illustration of the amphibolic properties of the TCA cycle. The glyoxylate shunt pathway is an alternative to the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, for it redirects the pathway of TCA to prevent full oxidation of carbon compounds, and to preserve high energy carbon sources as future energy sources. This pathway occurs ...