Sulfur amino acid

Sulfur amino acid, sulfur-containing amino acid, or SAA is an amino acid containing element sulfur.^[1]

Common sulfur amino acids include:

• Proteinogenic amino acids
  • Cysteine (Cys, C)
  • Methionine (Met or M), an essential amino acid in humans
• Metabolic products:
  • Cystine, a cysteine dimer, and an oxidation product of cysteine
  • Homocysteine (Hcy)
  • Homocystine, a homocysteine dimer, and an oxidation product of homocysteine
  • Cystathionine, produced by the transsulfuration pathway
  • S-Adenosyl methionine (SAM, SAMe, SAM-e, AdoMet), a common cofactor in methyltransferases
  • S-Adenosyl homocysteine (SAH), a side product of biomethylation by methyltransferases

See also

• Homologous series, for homo- prefix
• Cysteine metabolism
• Taurine, sulfur-containing acidic compound with amino group, but not classified as amino acid. The compound is a sulfonic acid, and amino acid definition only allows carboxylic acids.