cystine

[ sis-teen, -tin ]

nounBiochemistry.

a crystalline amino acid, C6H12O4N2S2, occurring in most proteins, especially the keratins in hair, wool, and horn, and yielding cysteine on reduction.

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Origin of cystine

1835–45; cyst- + -ine²; so called because found in the bladder

Words Nearby cystine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cystine in a sentence

This action is due chiefly to its progressive formation of calcium sulphydrate from the cystine group of the softer keratins.
Animal Proteins | Hugh Garner Bennett
Ammonia, therefore, dissolves the cystine without entering into chemical union with it.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II | Arnold Cooley
Potash also readily dissolves cystine, as do also oxalic acid and the strong mineral acids.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II | Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for cystine

cystine

/ (ˈsɪstiːn, -tɪn) /

noun

a sulphur-containing amino acid present in proteins: yields two molecules of cysteine on reduction. Formula: HOOCCH(NH 2)CH 2 SSCH 2 CH(NH 2)COOH

Origin of cystine

C19: see cysto- (bladder), -ine ²; named from its being discovered in a type of urinary calculus

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