tyrosine

Aromatic Polar amino acid Tyr Y RNA code: UAU, UAC

Tyrosine plays an important role in signal transduction because protein tyrosine kinases and receptor tyrosine kinases can phosphorylate the amino acid within proteins.

Tyrosine is a biosynthetic precursor of the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), the pigment melanin, the catecholamine neurotransmitter dopamine and norepinephrine, the neurotransmitter/hormone epinephrine, and in the opium poppy, morphine.