How To Easily Memorize The Urea Cycle

Demarcus Briers December 21, 2012 44,793 Views

There is a way to easily memorize the names and enzymes involved in the urea cycle
known as mnemonics. Mnemonics will help you remember their order and retain the
information. You should use the Urea Cycle mnemonic to remember the names of
molecules and enzymes, but you should also realize the Urea Cycle is a system that rids
the body of excess Nitrogen in the form of urea in most land animals.
One thing to note about the Urea Cycle is it partially occurs in the mitochondria of cells. This
is the same location as the Citric Acid Cycle. You should see some similarities between the
cycles

Urea Cycle Molecules

WORD MOLECULE

Orange Ornithine

Colored Carbamoyl Phosphate

Cats Citrulline

Always Aspartate (enters the cycle)

Ask Argininosuccinate

For Fumarate (leaves the cycle)

WORD MOLECULE

Awesome Arginine

Umbrellas Urea (leaves the cycle)

The mnemonic above will help you get started but I suggest you conceptualize the process.
You just have to realize the urea cycle loads 2 amino groups to be remove from the body in
the urine (urea + water).
Urea Cycle Enzymes
WORD ENZYME

Can Carbamoyl Phosphate Synthetase 1

Our Ornithine Transcarbamoylase

Aunts Argininosuccinate Synthetase

Aim Argininosuccinate Lyase

Accurately Arginase 1
Many of the enzymes are named after the molecules they modify. Memorizing the enzymes
should be a much easier if you know the molecules.

or the PPP maybe something like....

Oh! (Oxidative phase)
God (Glucose 6-p)
No (NADP+)
God (Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase)
No! (NADPH) H=!(?)
6-People all alONE ( 6-Phosphogluconolactone)
to Hell (H3O)
they Go Lacking ( Gluconolactonase)
Hurried (H+)
Pace (6-Phosphogluconate)
and so on and so forth....
Like ElDorado said, just make something up, a story maybe, add a little rhythm to it, repeat it and
practice puking out the real meaning and you're all set!