20 Amino Acids

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write them down on the table before your instructor hands out the exam and then use your exam to cover it up. Thats how i did it. Worked like a charm, the only amino acids I know by memorization are glycine, thats the simplest one, phenylalanine, and tyrosine.
 
Its a waste of time trying to memorize them, I seriously doubt if any doctors actually know them of the top of their heads, they just look them up if needed.
 
Haha, A) I doubt doctors would base their treatment of a patient on the basis of a structure of a particular amino acid, and B) I doubt that excuse will work on your biochem professor.
 
set up one of those bark collars on yourself and every time you get something wrong bark.
 
boggvir said:
Haha, A) I doubt doctors would base their treatment of a patient on the basis of a structure of a particular amino acid, and B) I doubt that excuse will work on your biochem professor.
Click to expand...

Good point.
 
I don't know of an easy way. Get a dry erase board. Write one. Erase. Write again. Erase. Write another. Erase. Write both.

That's it. Shouldn't take you more than a few hours though.
 
Seriously just write them down on your table before your prof hands out the exam, saved me so much time, use pencil so that only you can see it.
 
boggvir said:
I don't know of an easy way. Get a dry erase board. Write one. Erase. Write again. Erase. Write another. Erase. Write both.

That's it. Shouldn't take you more than a few hours though.
Click to expand...

This really is the best way to do it. One added suggestion: when you're starting, switch between the names and the structures. So do one round with writing down the name from your notes, and then draw the structure. Then erase, draw the structures from your notes, and write the name. Kinda like flashcards (which would help you out too) but with more drawing.

Another thing you could do (what I did) is to make a document that has the names with blank spaces for drawing structures on a page, and then the structures with blank spaces for names on another page. Print out five copies and fill in whatever information isn't on the current page.
 
In terms of learning structures, I thought it was easier to look at similarities between structures. e.g., D and E; N and Q; V and L; F and Y have basic components in common. I agree with the others, though - repetitive drawing is the best way to make the structures sink in.
 
BJJ said:
set up one of those bark collars on yourself and every time you get something wrong bark.
Click to expand...

This worked for me!

But in all reality, the dry erase board idea (write one, erase it, write two, erase it, three, etc...) is probably the best idea on here.

Also, Playa, how is it that you haven't been banned yet?
 
Really hated it when I had to memorise all this junk about pKas, structures, and groups of amino acids and which amino acids were in which group. I completely forgot all of it with a few drinks after my biochem 302 final last year.
 
Mithril said:
Really hated it when I had to memorise all this junk about pKas, structures, and groups of amino acids and which amino acids were in which group. I completely forgot all of it with a few drinks after my biochem 302 final last year.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right.

OP, in addition to the other advice on this thread, there are some good practice quizzes online. http://www.biomed.curtin.edu.au/biochem/tutorials/aaquiz/index.html is one. No pkas, but you can always Google for more.
 
Just like my friend's calc teacher told him.

"It's simple. You just have to understand the concept and no make mistake" (Imagine strong korean accent).
 
Learn in groups! Polar Charged, Polar Uncharged, Nonpolar Aliphatic, and Nonpolar Aromatic (Tyrosine is in two groups but whatevs)
 
If you want extra credit, start memorizing the important derived amino acids :laugh:



...totally don't do that.
 
whoMD said:
Learn in groups! Polar Charged, Polar Uncharged, Nonpolar Aliphatic, and Nonpolar Aromatic (Tyrosine is in two groups but whatevs)
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second this. i had to memorize all 20 and the pkas last week. took about 15 min to memorize them by the groups.
 
I recommend Anki for memorizing pretty much anything. Johnathan offers a great wealth of information on his website.
 
A is for ALANINE, three carbons long;
C is for CYSTEINE, with a sulfhydryl prong.
D is ASPARTATE, a good proton source,
And E, GLUTAMATE, is one also, of course.

F, PHENYLALANINE, has benzene on board;
GLYCINE, or G, wins the small-size award.
H is for HISTIDINE. What a great buffer!*
And water prompts I, ISOLEUCINE, to suffer.**

K: LYSINE's high on the pKa scale;
L is for LEUCINE, with its long Y-shaped tail.
M is METHIONINE, that sulfury lout,
And N is ASPARAGINE, an amide, no doubt.

P: PROLINE flaunts its odd ring like a bride;
Q, GLUTAMINE, is another amide.
R, ARGININE, has four nitrogens in all.
And S is for SERINE, a petite alcohol.

T is for THREONINE, similar to S;
V is for VALINE. Aliphatic? Why, yes!
W -- that's TRYPTOPHAN -- has rings at the end,
And Y, TYROSINE, is the kinases' friend.***




*Since Histidine has a pKa close to the normal pH of the cytosol, it is an effective intracellular buffer of hydrogen ions.
**The R group of Isoleucine is "hydrophobic."
***Many protein kinases add a phosphate at the -OH site of tyrosine.
 
I would never bother to learn that mnemonic. Too long.
 
whoMD said:
Learn in groups! Polar Charged, Polar Uncharged, Nonpolar Aliphatic, and Nonpolar Aromatic (Tyrosine is in two groups but whatevs)
Click to expand...

group_theory said:
A is for ALANINE, three carbons long;
C is for CYSTEINE, with a sulfhydryl prong.
D is ASPARTATE, a good proton source,
And E, GLUTAMATE, is one also, of course.

F, PHENYLALANINE, has benzene on board;
GLYCINE, or G, wins the small-size award.
H is for HISTIDINE. What a great buffer!*
And water prompts I, ISOLEUCINE, to suffer.**

K: LYSINE's high on the pKa scale;
L is for LEUCINE, with its long Y-shaped tail.
M is METHIONINE, that sulfury lout,
And N is ASPARAGINE, an amide, no doubt.

P: PROLINE flaunts its odd ring like a bride;
Q, GLUTAMINE, is another amide.
R, ARGININE, has four nitrogens in all.
And S is for SERINE, a petite alcohol.

T is for THREONINE, similar to S;
V is for VALINE. Aliphatic? Why, yes!
W -- that's TRYPTOPHAN -- has rings at the end,
And Y, TYROSINE, is the kinases' friend.***




*Since Histidine has a pKa close to the normal pH of the cytosol, it is an effective intracellular buffer of hydrogen ions.
**The R group of Isoleucine is "hydrophobic."
***Many protein kinases add a phosphate at the -OH site of tyrosine.
Click to expand...

This. Good luck! At least you don't have to memorize the structure for aspirin :meanie:
 
It's not that hard, it's just pure repetition. When looking at the R groups, forget about the hydrogens and just count the carbons and nitrogens/sulfur. For lysine, I just remember, 4C 1N. And yeah...you should learn them in groups. Some are just slight modifications of other ones..so if you know alanine..you'll know what phenylalanine is, just alanine with a phenyl group. The same goes for glutamic/aspartic acid and glutamine/asparagine (-ine like amine, -ic like carboxylic acid).

Histidine and tryptophan are probably the only ones that are actually hard to remember.
 
group_theory said:
A is for ALANINE, three carbons long;
C is for CYSTEINE, with a sulfhydryl prong.
D is ASPARTATE, a good proton source,
And E, GLUTAMATE, is one also, of course.

F, PHENYLALANINE, has benzene on board;
GLYCINE, or G, wins the small-size award.
H is for HISTIDINE. What a great buffer!*
And water prompts I, ISOLEUCINE, to suffer.**

K: LYSINE's high on the pKa scale;
L is for LEUCINE, with its long Y-shaped tail.
M is METHIONINE, that sulfury lout,
And N is ASPARAGINE, an amide, no doubt.

P: PROLINE flaunts its odd ring like a bride;
Q, GLUTAMINE, is another amide.
R, ARGININE, has four nitrogens in all.
And S is for SERINE, a petite alcohol.

T is for THREONINE, similar to S;
V is for VALINE. Aliphatic? Why, yes!
W -- that's TRYPTOPHAN -- has rings at the end,
And Y, TYROSINE, is the kinases' friend.***




*Since Histidine has a pKa close to the normal pH of the cytosol, it is an effective intracellular buffer of hydrogen ions.
**The R group of Isoleucine is "hydrophobic."
***Many protein kinases add a phosphate at the -OH site of tyrosine.
Click to expand...


This made me, literally, laugh out loud... 👍
 
I would write them over and over. Or you can make up a rhyme for them if thats possible
 
That song seems a little long...but I just did flashcards and split up into Aliphatic, aromatic, alcohol-containing, sulfur-containing, acidic, and basic. then you just memorize the polar/nonpolars. I memorized the 1 letter abbreviation quickly so i just went off that.

GAVLI & P for aliphatic, FYW for aromatic, ST for alcohol, MC for sulfur, NQ for amide-containing, HKR for basic, and DE for acidic. now just do whatever mnemonic you want like For your win or MC hammer or He Killed Ricky or Defensive End....
 
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