nutrient
Threonine
An essential amino acid with a polar hydroxyl side chain.
Educational draft · Human scientific and editorial review pending. About review status
Threonine is incorporated into proteins, and its carbon portion can follow more than one route when it is broken down.
How it works
A polar side chain in proteins
The hydroxyl group gives threonine a polar surface that can interact with water and neighbouring groups in a folded protein.
Related topics
Threonine is used to build Protein
Threonine is one of the amino acids used to assemble proteins.
Evidence: Established · Source checked 2026-09-05 · Sources: NIH National Library of Medicine: Biochemistry, Essential Amino Acids
Worth knowing
It is required from dietary protein. Humans cannot synthesise enough threonine and obtain it from dietary protein.
A closer look
Its carbon can form succinyl-CoA
After amino-group handling, one threonine breakdown route produces succinyl-CoA, an intermediate in central metabolism.
References
Source-checked local draft.
Human editorial review pending.
- NIH National Library of Medicine (opens in new tab)Biochemistry, Essential Amino AcidsChecked 2026-09-05
- NIH National Library of Medicine (opens in new tab)Biochemistry, Protein CatabolismChecked 2026-09-05
- NIH National Library of Medicine (opens in new tab)Biochemistry, Primary Protein StructureChecked 2026-09-05
- NIH National Library of Medicine (opens in new tab)Biochemistry, Collagen SynthesisChecked 2026-09-05
Take it into the kitchen
Explore this nutrient in simple meals. Recipe pages show estimated amounts and missing data.
Chicken corn tortilla fold · 20 min →
Chicken cabbage ginger rice · 20 min →
Pineapple cashew chicken pan · 25 min →
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