Topic summary

Cystein

Cystein

Extracted from the Wikipedia article Cysteine.

Cysteine (; symbol Cys or C) is a semiessential proteinogenic amino acid with the formulaHS−CH2−CH(NH2)−COOH. The thiol side chain in cysteine enables the formation of disulfide bonds, and often participates in enzymatic reactions as a nucleophile. Cysteine is chiral, but both D- and L-cysteine are found in nature. L‑Cysteine is a protein monomer in all biota, and D-cysteine acts as a signaling molecule in mammalian nervous systems. Cysteine is named after its discovery in urine, which comes from the urinary bladder or cyst, from Greek κύστις kýstis, "bladder".