C10H12N2O
Ever wonder why sometimes you feel sad? Or why you feel happy? Well, serotonin could be the answer to some of those questions! Known as the "happy molecule", serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for several moods, and feelings, including anxiety, fatigue, fear and others. It truly is the perfect proof that pretty much anything psychological is in fact biological.
INTRODUCTION
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, also known as 5-HT with the chemical formula - C10H12N2O. It is found in blood serum, thus given it’s name, it was found as a vasoconstrictor (narrows blood vessels) and is synthesized from essential amino acid known as L-Tryptophan, which must be consumed and cannot be produced on its own by the body.
Serotonin is not considered a protein, because it consists of only one molecule of tryptophan (the amino acid it is derived from) in an altered formation. Most proteins have hundreds and thousands of amino acid monomers in their polymer chains (What are Proteins); however, serotonin has only one. Furthermore proteins have their monomers covalently linked together with peptide bonds. The lack of peptide bonds in a serotonin molecule gives it further indications of the fact that it is not a protein. Due to this, serotonin is not considered a protein despite being created out of an essential amino acid (Carter, 2014).
