alanine

[ al-uh-neen, -nin ]

noun

, Biochemistry.

1. any of several isomers of a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble amino acid, CH 3 CH(NH 2 )COOH, found in many proteins and produced synthetically: used chiefly in biochemical research. : Ala; : A

alanine

/ ˈæləˌniːn; -ˌnaɪn /

noun

1. a nonessential aliphatic amino acid that occurs in many proteins

alanine

/ ăl′ə-nēn′ /

1. A nonessential amino acid. Chemical formula: C 3 H 7 NO 2 .
2. See more at amino acid

Word History and Origins

Origin of alanine¹

1860–65; al(dehyde) + -an- (arbitrarily inserted) + -ine ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of alanine¹

C19: from German Alanin, from al ( dehyde ) + -an- (euphonic infix) + -in -ine ²

Example Sentences

The team saw that when a virus with an alanine gets into lab-grown human lung cells, it makes more copies of itself than do versions that instead have threonine.

From Science News For Students

Once a virus with an alanine gets into laboratory-grown human lung cells, it replicates more than versions with threonine, the team found.

From Science News