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Ketoglutarate

α-Ketoglutaric acid
Alpha-ketoglutaric acid.png
Names
IUPAC name
2-Oxopentanedioic acid
Other names
2-Ketoglutaric acid
alpha-Ketoglutaric acid
2-Oxoglutaric acid
Oxoglutaric acid
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChemSpider
DrugBank
ECHA InfoCard 100.005.756
KEGG
MeSH alpha-ketoglutaric+acid
PubChem CID
UNII
Properties
C5H6O5
Molar mass 146.11 g/mol
Melting point 115 °C (239 °F; 388 K)
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
N  (what is YesYN ?)
Infobox references

α-Ketoglutaric acid is one of two ketone derivatives of glutaric acid. (The term "ketoglutaric acid," when not further qualified, almost always refers to the alpha variant. β-Ketoglutaric acid varies only by the position of the ketone functional group, and is much less common.)

Its anion, α-ketoglutarate (α-KG, also called oxo-glutarate) is an important biological compound. It is the keto acid produced by deamination of glutamate, and is an intermediate in the Krebs cycle.

The alanine transaminase (ALT) enzyme converts α-Ketoglutarate and L-alanine to L-glutamate and pyruvate, respectively, as a reversible process.

α-Ketoglutarate is a key intermediate in the Krebs cycle, coming after isocitrate and before succinyl CoA. Anaplerotic reactions can replenish the cycle at this juncture by synthesizing α-ketoglutarate from transamination of glutamate, or through action of glutamate dehydrogenase on glutamate.

Glutamine is synthesized from glutamate by glutamine synthetase, which utilizes an ATP to form glutamyl phosphate; this intermediate is attacked by ammonia as a nucleophile giving glutamine and inorganic phosphate.

Another function is to combine with nitrogen released in the cell, therefore preventing nitrogen overload.


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Wikipedia

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