L-Phenylalanine

L-Phenylalanine ((S)-2-Amino-3-phenylpropionic acid) is an essential amino acid isolated from Escherichia coli. L-Phenylalanine is a α2δ subunit of voltage-dependent Ca+ channels antagonist with a Ki of 980 nM. L-phenylalanine is a competitive antagonist for the glycine- and glutamate-binding sites of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) (KB of 573 μM ) and non-NMDARs, respectively. L-Phenylalanine is widely used in the production of food flavors and pharmaceuticals[1][2][3][4].

[1]Glushakov AV, et al. Long-term changes in glutamatergic synaptic transmission in phenylketonuria. Brain. 2005 Feb;128(Pt 2):300-7.|[2]Glushakov AV, et al. L-phenylalanine selectively depresses currents at glutamatergic excitatory synapses. J Neurosci Res. 2003 Apr 1;72(1):116-24.|[3]Glushakov AV, et al. Specific inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor function in rat hippocampal neurons by L-phenylalanine at concentrations observed during phenylketonuria. Mol Psychiatry. 2002;7(4):359-67.|[4]Mortell KH, et al. Structure-activity relationships of alpha-amino acid ligands for the alpha2delta subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2006 Mar 1;16(5):1138-41.|[5]Wu WB, et al. Enhancement of l-phenylalanine production in Escherichia coli by heterologous expression of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin. Biotechnol Appl Biochem. 2018 May;65(3):476-483.