This Cheat Sheet provides a handy, quick reference to these four subgroups.
Biochemistry's basic amino acids
Amino acids are important to the study of biochemistry because they’re the building blocks of proteins found in all cells. The basic group of amino acids is represented here:
Nonpolar (hydrophobic) amino acids of biochemistry
Amino acids play an important role in the study of biochemistry. The following nonpolar amino acids are hydrophobic, or water-hating. They don’t gratefully interact with (dissolve in) water. Here are the nonpolar amino acids:
Polar and uncharged amino acids of biochemistry
Except for glycine, the polar and uncharged (hydrophilic) amino acids can hydrogen bond to water and are usually more soluble than the nonpolar amino acids. The polar and uncharged amino acids studied in biochemistry are
Biochemistry's acidic amino acids
Important to the study of biochemistry, aspartic and glumatic acids are negatively charged at physiological pH and polar. These two amino acids make up the acidic amino acid group and are represented here:
