Nutrition Atlas⌘ K

nutrient

Asparagine

A non-essential amino acid with a nitrogen-bearing side chain.

Asparagine is used in proteins and can participate in cellular nitrogen handling.

A polar side chain in proteins

The amide side chain can form hydrogen bonds with water and neighbouring parts of a folded protein, helping give proteins their three-dimensional shape.

Related topics

  • Protein
    Asparagine is used to build Protein

    Asparagine is one of the amino acids used to assemble proteins.

Worth knowing

  • It is one of the 20 protein amino acids. Asparagine is one of the standard amino acids used in human protein synthesis.

  • It is made from aspartate. Asparagine synthetase forms asparagine from aspartate using glutamine as a nitrogen donor.

A closer look

The body can make it

Asparagine is classified as non-essential because human cells can synthesise it when ordinary metabolic needs are met.

References

Source-checked local draft.
Human editorial review pending.

  1. NIH National Library of MedicineBiochemistry, Essential Amino AcidsChecked 2026-09-05
  2. NIH National Library of MedicineBiochemistry, Protein CatabolismChecked 2026-09-05
  3. NIH National Library of MedicineBiochemistry, Primary Protein StructureChecked 2026-09-05
  4. NIH National Library of MedicineBiochemistry, Collagen SynthesisChecked 2026-09-05