Common Abbreviations of Biochemical Terms
The following list is a compilation of the more than 250 common abbreviations used by biochemists in their laboratory work and literature. It should be noted that biochemists are notorious for using abbreviations, so much so, that some abbreviations listed below have more than one definition. To make matters worse, not all abbreviations are standardized, therefore the same definition may show up under multiple abbreviations. Yet even with both disadvantages, this list is hoped to keep confusion to a minimum.
| 2PG | 2-phosphoglycerate |
| 3PG | 3-phosphoglycerate |
| A | adenine |
| Ab | antibody |
| ACAT | acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyl transferase |
| Ac-CoA | acetyl-coenzyme A |
| ACh | acetylcholine |
| ACP | acyl carrier protein |
| ADH | alcohol dehydrogenase |
| AdoMet | S-adenosylmethionine |
| ADP | adenosine diphosphate |
| Ag | antigen |
| AIDS | acquired immune deficiency syndrome |
| Ala | alanine |
| ALA | d-aminolevulinic acid |
| AMP | adenosine monophosphate |
| Arg | arginine |
| ARS | autonomously replicating sequence |
| Asn | asparagine |
| Asp | aspartic acid |
| ATCase | aspartate transcarbamoylase |
| atm | atmosphere |
| ATP | adenosine triphosphate |
| BChl | bacteriochlorophyll |
| bp | base pair |
| BPG | D-2,3-bisphosphoglycerate |
| BPheo | bacteriopheophytin |
| BPTI | bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor |
| C | cytosine |
| cal | calorie |
| CaM | calmodulin |
| cAMP | cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate |
| CAP | catabolite activating protein |
| CD | circular dichroism |
| cDNA | complementary DNA |
| cDNA | complimentary DNA |
| CDP | cytidine diphosphate |
| CDR | complimentarity determining region |
| Chl | chlorophyll |
| CM | carboxymethyl |
| CMP | cAMP receptor protein (catabolite activator protein) |
| CMP | cytidine monophosphate |
| CoA | coenzyme A |
| CoA-SH | reduced coenzyme A |
| CoQ | coenzyme Q (ubiquinone) |
| cpm | counts per minute |
| CTP | cytidine triphosphate |
| Cys | cysteine |
| d | deoxy |
| Da | dalton |
| dd | dideoxy |
| DEAE | diethylaminoethyl |
| DG | sn-1,2-diacylglycerol |
| DHAP | dihydroxyacetone phosphate |
| DHF | dihydrofolate |
| DHFR | dihydrofolate reductase |
| DMF | N,N-dimethylformamide |
| DMS | dimethyl sulfate |
| DMSO | dimethyl sulfoxide |
| DNA | deoxyribonucleic acid |
| DNP | 2,4-dinitrophenol |
| Dol | dolichol |
| dopa | L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine |
| dTDP | thymidine diphosphate |
| dTMP | thymidine monophosphate |
| dTTP | thymidine triphosphate |
| E | reduction potential |
| EF | elongation factor |
| EGF | epidermal growth factor |
| EPR | electron paramagnetic resonance |
| ER | endoplasmic reticulum |
| F | Faraday constant |
| F | phenylalanine |
| F1P | fructose-1-phosphate |
| F6P | fructose-6-phosphate |
| FAB | antibody molecule fragment that binds antigen |
| FAD | flavin adenine dinucleotide |
| FADH2 | reduced flavin adenine dinucleotide |
| FBP | fructose-1,6-bisphosphate |
| FBPase | fructose bisphosphatase |
| Fd | ferredoxin |
| FH | familial hypercholesterolemia |
| fMet | N-formylmethionine |
| FMN | flavin mononucleotide |
| G | Gibbs free energy |
| G | guanine |
| G1P | glucose-1-phosphate |
| G3P | glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate |
| G6P | glucose-6-phosphate |
| GABA | g-aminobutyric acid |
| GalNAc | N-acetylgalactosamine |
| Gal | galactose |
| GAP | glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate |
| GAPDH | glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase |
| GDP | guanosine diphosphate |
| Gla | g-carboxyglutamate |
| GLC | gas-liquid chromatography |
| Glc | glucose |
| Gln | glutamine |
| Glu | glutamic acid |
| Gly | glycine |
| GMP | guanosine monophosphate |
| GS | glutamine synthetase |
| GSH | glutathione (reduced glutathione) |
| GSSG | glutathione disulfide (oxidized glutathione) |
| GTP | guanosine triphosphate |
| h | hour |
| h | Planck's constant |
| HA | hemagglutinin |
| Hb | hemoglobin |
| HDL | high-density lipoprotein |
| HGPRT | hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase |
| HIV | human immunodeficiency virus |
| HMG-CoA | b-hydroxy-b-methylglutaryl-CoA |
| hnRNA | heterogeneous nuclear RNA |
| HPLC | high-pressure (or high-performance) liquid chromatography |
| HX | hypoxanthine |
| Hyl | 5-hydroxylysine |
| Hyp | 4-hydroxyproline |
| IDL | intermediate-density lipoprotein |
| IF | initiation factor |
| IgG | immunoglobulin 6 |
| IHP | inositol hexaphosphate |
| Ile | isoleucine |
| IMP | inosine monophosphate |
| InsP3 | inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate |
| IP1 | inositol-1-phosphate |
| IP3 | inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate |
| IPTG | isopropylthiogalactoside |
| IR | infrared |
| IS | insertion sequence |
| ITP | inosine triphosphate |
| J | joule |
| k | kilo (103) |
| kb | kilobase |
| kcat | turnover number |
| kDa | kilodalton |
| KM | Michaelis constant |
| L | liter |
| LCAT | lecithin:cholesterol acyl transferase |
| LDH | lactate dehydrogenase |
| LDL | low-density lipoprotein |
| Leu | leucine |
| Lys | lysine |
| m | milli (10-3) |
| M | molar (mol/L) |
| m | micro (10-6) |
| Man | mannose |
| Mb | myoglobin |
| Met | methionine |
| MHC | major histocompatability complex |
| mL | milliliter |
| mm | millimeter |
| mM | millimolar (mmol/L) |
| mmol | millimole |
| mol | mole |
| mRNA | messenger RNA |
| mV | millivolt |
| N | Avogadro's number |
| n | nano (10-9) |
| NAD+ | nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide |
| NADH | reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide |
| NADP+ | nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate |
| NADPH | reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate |
| NAG | N-acetylglucosamine |
| NAM | N-acetylmuramic acid |
| NANA | N-acetylneuraminic acid |
| nm | nanometer |
| NMN | nicotinamide mononudeotide |
| NMR | nuclear magnetic resonance |
| p | phosphate |
| p | pico (10-12) |
| P | phosphate |
| PAGE | polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis |
| PBG | porphobilinogen |
| PC | phosphatidylcholine |
| PC | plastocyanin |
| PCR | polymerase chain reaction |
| PDGF | platelet-derived growth factor |
| PE | phosphatidylethanolamine |
| PEG | pulsed-field gel electrophoresis |
| PEP | phosphoenolpyruvate |
| PEPCK | PEP carboxykinase |
| PFK | phosphofructokinase |
| PG | prostaglandin |
| PGI | phosphoglucose isomerase |
| PGK | phosphoglycerate kinase |
| PGM | phosphoglycerate mutase |
| Phe | phenylalanine |
| Pheo | Pheophytin |
| Pi | inorganic phosphate (also called orthophosphate ion) |
| PI | phosphatidyl-inositol |
| PIP2 | phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate |
| PK | pyruvate kinase |
| PKU | phenylketonuria |
| PLP | pyridoxal-5-phosphate |
| pm | micrometer |
| mM | micromolar (mmol/L) |
| mmol | micromole |
| Pol | polymerase |
| PPi | pyrophosphate ion |
| PQ | plastoquinone |
| Pro | proline |
| PrP | prion protein |
| PRPP | 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate |
| PS | phosphatidylserine |
| PS | photosystem |
| PSTV | potato spindle tuber virus |
| PTH | phenylthiohydantoin |
| Q | ubiquinone (CoQ) |
| QH2 | reduced coenzyme Q (ubiquinol) |
| R | gas constant |
| R5P | ribose-5-phosphate |
| RER | rough endoplasmic reticulum |
| RF | release factor |
| RF | replicative form |
| RFLP | restriction fragment length polymorphism |
| RK | HMG-CoA reductase kinase |
| RKK | reductase kinase kinase |
| RNA | ribonucleic acid |
| rpm | revolutions per minute |
| rRNA | ribosomal RNA |
| RSV | Rous sarcoma virus |
| Ru1,5P | ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate |
| Ru5P | ribulose-5-phosphate |
| RuBP | ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate |
| s | second |
| S | sedimentation coefficient |
| S | Svedberg unit |
| S7P | sedoheptulose-7-phosphate |
| SAM | S-adenosylmethionine |
| SDS | sodium dodecylsulfate |
| Ser | serine |
| snRNA | small nuclear RNA |
| snRNP | small (nuclear) ribonucleoprotein |
| SRP | signal recognition particle |
| T | thymine |
| TBSV | tomato bushy stunt virus |
| TCA | tricarboxylic acid cycle |
| THF | tetrahydrofolate |
| Thr | threonine |
| TIM | triose phosphate isomerase |
| TLC | thin layer chromatography |
| TMV | tobacco mosaic virus |
| TPP | thiamine pyrophosphate |
| tRNA | transfer RNA |
| Trp | tryptophan |
| TTP | thymidine triphosphate |
| Tyr | tyrosine |
| U | uracil |
| UDP | uridine diphosphate |
| UDPG | UDP-glucose |
| UMP | uridine monophosphate |
| UTP | uridine triphosphate |
| UV | ultraviolet |
| Val | valine |
| VLDL | very low-density lipoprotein |
| Vmax | maximal velocity |
| XMP | xanthosine monophosphate |
| Xu5P | xylulose-5-phosphate |
| YAC | yeast artificial chromosome |
| YADH | yeast alcohol dehydrogenase |