asparagine

[ uh-spar-uh-jeen, -jin ]

noun

1. a white, crystalline, amino acid, NH 2 COCH 2 CH(NH 2 )COOH, soluble in water, obtained from certain plants, especially legumes, and used chiefly as a nutrient in culture media for certain bacteria. : Asn; : N

asparagine

/ -dʒɪn; əˈspærəˌdʒiːn /

noun

1. a nonessential amino acid, a component of proteins

asparagine

/ ə-spăr′ə-jēn′ /

1. A nonessential amino acid. Chemical formula: C 4 H 8 N 2 O 3 .
2. See more at amino acid

Word History and Origins

Origin of asparagine¹

From French, dating back to 1805–15; asparagus, -ine ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of asparagine¹

C19: from French, from Latin asparagus asparagus + -ine ²

Example Sentences

"Mechanistically, we found that this was from low expression of asparagine synthetase, a quality that was distinct from other similar types of leukemia."

From Science Daily

Rothamsted Research this month applied for a permit to field test wheat edited to contain less asparagine, an amino acid that becomes the carcinogen acrylamide when baked.

From Science Magazine

And removing asparagine, an amino acid abundant in asparagus, from mouse diets curbed the spread of metastatic breast cancer, suggesting the diet could enhance drug treatments.

From Science Magazine

In this way, unlike its obscure co-workers norepinephrine and asparagine, dopamine has become a celebrity molecule.

From The Guardian

When scientists reduced asparagine in animals with breast cancer, they found that the number of secondary tumours in other tissues fell dramatically.

From The Guardian