Application

L-Alanine has been used for tissue culture technique as a media component. It has been used as a media component for the growth of adult mouse keratinocytes.

Biochem/physiol Actions

L-Alanine is a nonessential amino acid, which is highly concentrated in muscle. It is a key player in the Glucose-Alanine cycle, which enables the removal of pyruvate and glutamate from muscle to the liver. Once in the liver, glucose is regenerated from pyruvate and returned to the muscle while glutamate ultimately participates in the urea cycle to form urea. The Glucose-Alanine cycle aides to conserve ATP in muscle for muscle contraction, while the energy burden of gluconeogenesis is imposed upon the liver. Alanine inhibits pyruvate kinase to regulate gluconeogenesis and glycolysis in order to maintain glucose homeostasis during starvation. Alanine prevents hepatic autophagy. Alanine formation is a result of transamination of glutamate and pyruvate.