Category: Uncategorized

20221221W Day 0: Y is for Tyrosine (Tyr)

Exiting the wormhole is messy with lots of moving pieces, with V & Z – Winter Solstice, 2022

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Y is for Tyrosine, aka 4-hydroxyphenylalanine, a non-essential amino acid with a polar functional group. Tyrosine was first discovered in the cheese protein casein and was named after the Greek word for cheese, tyrós.

Tyrosine is encoded by the two codons UAC and UAU. Tyrosine is often substituted with the similar but essential amino acid Phenylalanine, encoded by the nearby codons UUC and UUU. Humans can synthesize Tyrosine from Phenylalanine.

Tyrosine is a precursor to neurotransmitters Dopamine, neurotransmitter and hormone Noradrenaline, hormone Adrenaline and the pigment Melanin.

Tyrosine is decarboxylated to tyramine in the gut and also during fermentation. Tyramine can cause blood vessels to constrict, increase blood pressure, and also cause heart palpitations. Foods high in tyramine include fermented vegetables, wine and beer, aged cheese, cured meats, chocolate, coffee, soy sauce, and salt-dried fish (ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK563197/).

In proteins, the Tyrosine residues may by phosphorylated by tyrosine kinase enzymes. This phosphorylation can change the function or location of the protein. Tyrosine kinases are important for maintaining normal cell growth and differentiation. Tyrosine kinase disfunction can lead to carcinogenesis. For this reason, targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors are used in treating cancer. Resistance to these inhibitors is being studied (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-022-01168-8).

Regarding the exit of the wormhole that I felt 20 days ago, I can report feelings of humbleness and WTF. I’m still processing what happened around midnight on the 21st of Dec. There was definitely an extreme shift and completely unexpected experience. I wonder how much of it was brought on by my anticipation of a wormhole exit. I did share with AZ that I was expecting a shift and so perhaps her behavior was impacted. Most of the differences I feel are internal versus external. However, these internal changes seem to be impacting my external reality.

20221220T Day -1: W is for Tryptophan (Trp)

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W is for Tryptophan, an essential amino acid encoded by only a single codon, UGG. Tryptophan is essential for the synthesis of serotonin, a molecule that plays a key role in many bodily functions, such as sexual desire, mood, focus, learning, cognition, sleep, body temperature, wound healing, bone health, nausea, digestion, and vasoconstriction, and blood clotting. An adult body requires about 250mg/day per 100 lbs of body weight (about 5 mg/kg of body weight). A normal adult diet supplies about 20 mg/kg of body weight. For example, 150 mg of Tryptophan can be found in the following servings:

  1. Cup of milk
  2. Cup of oatmeal
  3. Canned sardines (3 oz)
  4. Edamame (3 oz)
  5. Eggs (2)
  6. Hamburger patty (5 oz)
  7. Tofu (2 oz)
  8. Roasted turkey breast (2 oz)
  9. Tuna or Salmon fillet (1.5 oz)
  10. Steak, chicken, or lamb (1.5 oz)
  11. Seeds, for example pumpkin seeds (1 oz) and chia seeds (0.7 oz)
  12. Wheat germ (1 oz)
  13. Spirulina (0.5 oz)

An interesting study found that a high tryptophan diet had a positive impact on mood in healthy college students:

The results of this double-blinded, within-subjects study indicate that participants consuming higher levels of tryptophan (>10 mg/kg body weight/d) had significantly less depression and irritability and decreased anxiety than when they consumed lower levels of tryptophan (<5 mg/kg body weight/d). 

2014 Dec 9, The Effects of Dietary Tryptophan on Affective Disorders (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.apnu.2014.11.008)

As we near the end of reviewing the encoded amino acids, the following genetic code diagram with chemical structures might be helpful.

From public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GeneticCode21-version-2.svg

20221219M Day -2: V is for Valine (Val)

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V is for Valine, a strongly hydrophobic essential amino acid. It is encoded by all 4 codons starting with GU. Like other branch chain amino acids, it is synthesized by plants but not by animals. Valine is normally substituted for other BCAAs Leucine and Isoleucine.

Valine rarely is substituted for Glutamate, even though Glutamate is encoded by nearby codons GAA and GAG. The disease Sickle cell anemia results when this substitution happens in hemoglobin (https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922806297751).

Today I am spending time getting myself ready for whatever happens in a few days as I exit the wormhole.

20221218u Day -3: T is for Threonine (Thr)

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T is for Threonine, which is most often substituted with Serine and Alanine, both of which are encoded by nearby codons to the 4 codons used to encode Threonine (ACx). Threonine is an essential amino acid aids in maintaining intestinal health as it is an important component of gastrointestinal mucin and is also aids in maintaining intestinal immune function via signaling pathways.