Metabolic Fates of Amino Groups:- Dietary Protein Is Enzymatically Degraded to Amino Acids
In humans, the degradation of ingested proteins to their constituent amino acids occurs in the gastrointestinal tract. Entry of dietary protein into the stomach stimulates the gastric mucosa to secrete the hormone gastrin, which in turn stimulates the secretion of hydrochloric acid by the parietal cells and pepsinogen by the chief cells of the gastric glands (Fig. 18–3a). The acidic gastric juice (pH 1.0 to 2.5) is both an antiseptic, killing most bacteria and other foreign cells, and a denaturing agent, unfolding globular proteins and rendering their internal peptide bonds more accessible to enzymatic hydrolysis. Pepsinogen (Mr 40,554), an inactive precursor, or zymogen (p. 231), is converted to active pepsin (Mr 34,614) by the enzymatic action of pepsin itself. In the stomach, pepsin hydrolyzes ingested proteins at pep tide bonds on the amino-terminal side of the aromatic amino acid residues Phe, Trp, and Tyr (see Table 3–7), cleaving long polypeptide chains into a mixture of smaller peptides. As the acidic stomach contents pass into the small intestine, the low pH triggers secretion of the hormone secretin into the blood. Secretin stimulates the pancreas to secrete bicarbonate into the small intestine to neutralize the gastric HCl, abruptly increasing the pH to about 7. (All pancreatic secretions pass into the small intestine through the pancreatic duct.) The digestion of proteins now continues in the small intestine. Arrival of amino acids in the upper part of the intestine (duodenum) causes release into the blood of the hormone cholecystokinin, which stimulates secretion of several pancreatic enzymes with activity optima at pH 7 to 8. Trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, and procarboxy peptidases A and B, the zymogens of trypsin, chymotrypsin, and carboxypeptidases A and B, are synthesized and secreted by the exocrine cells of the pancreas (Fig. 18–3b). Trypsinogen is converted to its active form, trypsin, by enteropeptidase, a proteolytic enzyme secreted by intestinal cells. Free trypsin then catalyzes the conversion of additional trypsinogen to trypsin (see Fig. 6–33). Trypsin also activates chymotrypsinogen, the pro carboxypeptidases, and proelastase. Why this elaborate mechanism for getting active digestive enzymes into the gastrointestinal tract? Synthesis of the enzymes as inactive precursors protects the exocrine cells from destructive proteolytic attack. The pancreas further protects itself against self-digestion by making a specific inhibitor, a protein called pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (p. 231), that effectively prevents premature production of active proteolytic enzymes within the pancreatic cells. Trypsin and chymotrypsin further hydrolyze the peptides that were produced by pepsin in the stomach. This stage of protein digestion is accomplished very efficiently, because pepsin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin have different amino acid specificities (see Table 3–7). Degradation of the short peptides in the small intestine is then completed by other intestinal peptidases. These include carboxypeptidases A and B (both of which are zinc-containing enzymes), which remove successive carboxyl-terminal residues from peptides, and an aminopeptidase that hydrolyzes successive amino-terminal residues from short pep tides. The resulting mixture of free amino acids is transported into the epithelial cells lining the small intestine (Fig. 18–3c), through which the amino acids enter the blood capillaries in the villi and travel to the liver. In humans, most globular proteins from animal sources are almost completely hydrolyzed to amino acids in the gastrointestinal tract, but some fibrous proteins, such as keratin, are only partly digested. In addition, the protein content of some plant foods is protected against breakdown by indigestible cellulose husks. Acute pancreatitis is a disease caused by obstruction of the normal pathway by which pancreatic secretions enter the intestine. The zymogens of the proteolytic enzymes are converted to their catalytically active forms prematurely, inside the pancreatic cells, and attack the pancreatic tissue itself. This causes excruciating pain and damage to the organ that can prove fatal.
FIGURE 18–3 Part of the human digestive (gastrointestinal) tract. (a) The parietal cells and chief cells of the gastric glands secrete their products in response to the hormone gastrin. Pepsin begins the process of protein degradation in the stomach. (b) The cytoplasm of exocrine cells is completely filled with rough endoplasmic reticulum, the site of synthesis of the zymogens of many digestive enzymes. The zymogens are concentrated in membrane-enclosed transport particles called zymogen granules. When an exocrine cell is stimulated, its plasma membrane fuses with the zymogen granule membrane and zymogens are released into the lumen of the collecting duct by exocytosis. The collecting ducts ultimately lead to the pancreatic duct and thence to the small intestine. (c) Amino acids are absorbed through the epithelial cell layer (intestinal mucosa) of the villi and enter the capillaries. Recall that the products of lipid hydrolysis in the small intestine enter the lymphatic system after their absorption by the intestinal mucosa (see Fig. 17–1).
