Glutamate (neurotransmitter)
Glutamate is a major constituent of a wide variety of proteins; consequently it is one of the most abundant amino acids in the human body. Under ordinary conditions enough is obtained from the diet that there is no need for any to be synthesized. Nevertheless, glutamate is formally classified as a non-essential amino acid, because it can be synthesized from alpha-Ketoglutaric acid, which is produced as part of the citric acid cycle by a series of reactions whose starting point is citrate. Glutamate cannot cross the blood-brain barrier unassisted, but it is actively transported into the nervous system by a high affinity transport system, which maintains its concentration in brain fluids at a fairly constant level.
Alanine
Alanine (symbol Ala or A) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated form, −NH, under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated form, −COO, under biological conditions), and a side chain methyl group, making it a nonpolar, aliphatic amino acid. It is non-essential in humans: because the body can synthesize it, it does not need to be present in the diet. It is encoded by all codons starting with GC (GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG).