lysine Chem.
(ˈlaɪsiːn)
Also † -in.
[ad. G. lysin (E. Fischer 1891, in Arch. f. Anat. u. Physiol., physiol. Abtheil. 269), prob. f. lysatinin lysatinine: see -ine5.]
An amino-acid, COOH·CH(NH2)·(CH2)3·CH2NH2, which is probably a constituent of all proteins.
| 1892 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LXII. 1500 Not lysine, but lysine carbonate..was obtained. 1897 [see lysatinine]. 1919 Lysin [see histidine]. 1946 Nature 7 Sept. 349/2 Destruction of lysine by heat has been observed in milk, casein and oat protein. 1964 Economist 4 July 70/3 Lysine, a chemical that has great potentialities as a protein-forming additive for animal feedstuffs. 1965 Lee & Knowles Animal Hormones ii. 33 The structural formula of vasopressin is the same in all mammals except in the pig and the hippopotamus, where the amino acid arginine is replaced by lysine. 1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 29 Sept. 28/1 Lysine is one of the amino acids that is an essential component of protein in human nutrition. |