amino acids

Cultural  

1. Basic organic molecules (see also organic molecule) that combine to form proteins. Amino acids are made up of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Some examples of amino acids are lysine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan.

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Amino acids are the basic molecular building blocks of proteins.

Example Sentences

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that can play roles in regulating hormones, releasing neurotransmitters and repairing tissue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Peptides are chains of amino acids that carry signals to cells.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Ingest a small but powerful tab of L.A.-grown protein-rich amino acids optimized to enhance their longevity and fat-burning properties, and let the aminos take you away.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

The third region contains organic compounds that include nitrogen, an element that plays a key role in biological molecules such as amino acids.

From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026

The arrows did not signify chemical transformations, but instead expressed the transfer of genetic information from the sequences of nucleotides in DNA molecules to the sequences of amino acids in proteins.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson