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Related Concept Videos

Chirality in Nature02:30

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid. The...
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur02:30

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Naming Enantiomers02:21

Naming Enantiomers

The naming of enantiomers employs the Cahn–Ingold–Prelog rules that involve assigning priorities to different substituent groups at a chiral center. Each enantiomer, being a distinct molecule, is assigned a unique name by the Cahn–Ingold–Prelog (CIP) rules, also called the R–S system. The prefix R- or S- attached to the chiral centers in an enantiomer is dependent on the spatial arrangement of the four substituents on the chiral center. The R–S system essentially comprises three steps:...
Stereoisomerism02:52

Stereoisomerism

Isomerism in Complexes
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
Stereoisomers02:32

Stereoisomers

On the basis of mirror symmetry, stereoisomers of an organic molecule can be further classified into diastereomers and enantiomers. Diastereomers are stereoisomers that are not mirror images of each other. Substituted alkenes, such as the cis and trans isomers of 2-butene, are diastereomers, as these molecules exhibit different spatial orientations of their constituent atoms, are not mirror images of each other, and do not interconvert. Here, the interconversion is suppressed due to restricted...
SN2 Reaction: Stereochemistry02:23

SN2 Reaction: Stereochemistry

In an SN2 reaction, the nucleophilic attack on the substrate and departure of the leaving group occurs simultaneously through a transition state. As the nucleophile approaches the substrate from the back-side, the configuration of the substrate carbon changes from tetrahedral to trigonal bipyramidal and then back to tetrahedral, leading to an inversion in the configuration of the product.
If the substrate is an achiral molecule at the α-carbon, the inversion of configuration is not observed.

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D-serine: the right or wrong isoform?

Sabine A Fuchs1, Ruud Berger, Tom J de Koning

  • 1Department of Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases, University Medical Center Utrecht, 3508 AB, Utrecht, The Netherlands. S.Fuchs@umcutrecht.nl

Brain Research
|June 17, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

D-serine, a recently identified amino acid in mammals, acts as a neurotransmitter in the human central nervous system (CNS). Its concentration is critical for normal CNS function, impacting development, memory, and various neurological disorders.

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Published on: January 26, 2024

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Biochemistry
  • Neuropharmacology

Background:

  • D-amino acids, including d-serine, have been recently identified in mammals.
  • D-serine functions as a neurotransmitter in the human central nervous system (CNS).
  • It binds to the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAr), similar to glycine.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the physiological and pathological roles of d-serine in the human CNS.
  • To discuss the implications of d-serine in CNS development, memory, and learning.
  • To explore the involvement of d-serine in neurological diseases and its clinical applications.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on d-serine.
  • Analysis of d-serine's role in NMDAr function.
  • Comparison of d-serine and glycine contributions.

Main Results:

  • D-serine is crucial for normal CNS development, memory, and learning.
  • Abnormal d-serine concentrations are implicated in CNS pathologies like excitotoxicity, ALS, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.
  • D-serine's role is distinct yet complementary to glycine's at the NMDAr.

Conclusions:

  • Adequate d-serine levels are essential for optimal CNS function.
  • Both deficiencies and excesses of d-serine can lead to neurological disorders.
  • D-serine holds significant potential for clinical applications in treating CNS conditions.