L-Lysine

L-Lysine is an essential α-amino acid, which is encoded by the codons AAA and AAG. It is a key building block in protein synthesis in which it acts as a base. Lysine residues are useful in many cellular processes, due to their ability to accept a wide variety of post-translational modifications. These modifications include acetylation, methylation, ubiquitination, sumoylation, neddylation, biotinylation, pupylation and carboxylation. L-lysine is an essential amino acid that cannot be synthesized by humans and mammals through transamination. Lysine plays a pivotal role in different processes inside the human body, such as proteinogenesis, catalysis, fatty acid metabolism, histone modification, polypeptide crosslinking, calcium homeostasis, and acts as a nucleophile in enzymatic reactions. Because of its pivotal role in promoting growth and development, enhancing immunity, and preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, L-lysine is used in food health care, feed additives and pharmaceutical preparations.