Amino Acid Code?

[Da'Shain]

Hi everyone,

So I'm trying to figure out what this tattoo a friend of mine is getting means. She wouldn't tell me, but she just gave me the design and said it was in amino acid code. I've found a couple of different versions of this online, all of which seem to have slight differences or varied notation, and it's all just greek to me. Is there a playgrounder out there (or several) that can translate this? I would be eternally grateful.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j305/GreatHackster/aminoacidcode.jpg

[Anxe]

Near as I can tell that is from top to bottom:
Alanine
Glutamic Acid
Isoleucine
Asparagine
Isoleucine
Asparagine
Alanine
Asparagine
Tyrosine
Asparagine
Asparagine
Lysine
Valine
Alanine

Amino acids all have one letter codes for them. Using that amino acid code the tattoo is: AEININANYNNKVA
Or the other way: AVKNNYNANINIEA
Which still makes no sense. Either the drawing you made is wrong in some places, or the tattoo is. Or there is a secondary code that I'm missing. Or I did one of the amino acids wrong.

[The Extinguisher]

It could be based off of the sequence that codes for those amino acids. Which still makes it unreadable, because multiple sequences code for the same acid.

[Anxe]

That would also restrict the original message to only four letters of the alphabet which wouldn't have an intelligible message for that long a passage.

[Brother Oni]

I'll try and double check the sequence later - I haven't had to identify amino acids for over a decade now and am a bit rusty.

The alternative is what molecule that sequence codes for, but at ~1.54kDa, it's a pretty small protein.

[Asta Kask]

It could be a signalling molecule. They can be pretty small. A quick Qoogle search yielded nothing, however. (Oxytocin for 'make love not war') :smallwink:

[Brother Oni]

Doing some quick research (still not checked the sequence yet), it's a 14 AA long protein, which is classified as a peptide at that length.

Doing a check for tetradecapeptides throws up all sorts of molecules (from renin digestion products, somatostatin, to angiotensin), so I suspect I may be barking up the wrong tree.

Taking it a step up from the single letter code we get:

Ala
Glu
Ile
Asn
Ile
Asn
Tyr
Asn
Asn
Lys
Val
Ala

Which still makes no sense. I'll carry on ruminating for now...

[Eldan]

I put the sequence it into a few protein databanks, didn't find anything.

[Asta Kask]

Could there be some message in the nucleotide sequence that codes for the protein? Although many of the amino acid have more than one possible code.

[The Succubus]

I would take this to the finest scientific minds on the Internet but the xkcd forums are down.

[Tyndmyr]

I would take this to the finest scientific minds on the Internet but the xkcd forums are down.

Since when? I popped on 'em briefly yesterday, and they're up again today.

[Brother Oni]

Could there be some message in the nucleotide sequence that codes for the protein? Although many of the amino acid have more than one possible code.

As mentioned earlier, it would restrict the message to 4 letters even with the multiple codons.


Anyway, checking the diagram, I agree with everything except for Lysine, which I make to be Arginine instead (the Alanines are missing their oxygen as well - *grinds teeth at inconsistent notation*).

However replacing the K for a R still doesn't help (AEININANYNNRVA / AVRNNYNANINIEA). Chucking the updated sequence at a protein database doesn't hit anything that small (although it does appear to be a component of larger proteins).

The second reading looks like an acronym though or some type of text speak. Does that ring any bells, Da'Shain?

[Asta Kask]

We need to synthetize it and inject it.

[Eldan]

I did chuck all four into Urbandictionary and Google, to see if they were chatspeak. If they are, they don't show up.

[The Extinguisher]

On a related note, that is a really cool idea for writing a message or getting a tattoo. I might have to steal that.

[Rakmakallan]

I ran it both ways in BLAST against Swissprot, but nothing. Even though I get 100% query coverage the e-value is too high to even consider the results and not knowing the amine terminal doesn't exactly help. Maybe if we were to try looking for a pattern with BLAST and Pfam? (I am too lazy to go through with this at this time of the night)

[Eloel]

On a related note, that is a really cool idea for writing a message or getting a tattoo. I might have to steal that.

This. Alot of this. (and not enough of actual knowledge in my part)

[Togath]

if you take out all references to either Asparagine and/or Isoleucine does it make any sense?(I don't know anything about amino acids, but it did seem odd that Asparagine repeated so many times[5 times if that changes anything] and that Isoleucine repeated twice[so 2 if that changes anything])
Or does it change if you remove all but either the first or last reference to Asparagine and/or Isoleucine?

[snoopy13a]

I think it is probably some sort of secondary code based on the one-letter abbreviation. Initials of friends or something like that.

It's sad that at one point in my life I had every single amino acid chain memorized (I was even a TA for intro Biochemistry :smalleek: ), but now, looking at that, I'm lost.

[Karoht]

We need to synthetize it and inject it.
Oh my god! It's the super soldier formula! I thought we lost it back in World War 2!
Wait, film history isn't real history... carry on!

[noparlpf]

Try breaking it down to each of the possible base pair codes (there will be quite a few due to the redundancy of the code), and then run those through a binary or quaternary translator. Maybe one of those combinations would yield a hidden message.

Edit: Here are the possible codons for each. Now, if we take each possible combination (in this order), we'd have...a bunch of combinations. Then run each through a binary converter. I think the normal code would be T (and U) and G = 1, A and C = 0, or at least that's how Harvard has been doing it according to the last thing I read.
Alanine...............Ala....GCU/GCC/GCA/GCG
Glutamic Acid.......Glu....GAA/GAG
Isoleucine...........Ile.....AUU/AUC/AUA
Asparagine..........Asn...AAU/AAC
Isoleucine...........Ile.....AUU/AUC/AUA
Asparagine..........Asn...AAU/AAC
Alanine...............Ala....GCU/GCC/GCA/GCG
Asparagine..........Asn...AAU/AAC
Tyrosine.............Tyr....UAU/UAC
Asparagine..........Asn...AAU/AAC
Asparagine..........Asn...AAU/AAC
Lysine................Lys....AAA/AAG
Valine.................Val....GUU/GUC/GUA/GUG
Alanine...............Ala....GCU/GCC/GCA/GCG

It's also entirely possible this is an elaborate prank by your friend. Hey, Da'Shain is pretty geeky, I bet he'll read way further into this than he ought to and assume it means something. Muahaha.

[Siosilvar]

I would take this to the finest scientific minds on the Internet but the xkcd forums are down.

Just because there isn't a link (fora.xkcd.com) doesn't mean you can't get there.

I ran the one-letter code through an online substitution cipher solver. Top ten results:
L THE HELEBEEN AL
RY WE WERE BEEN AR
RY WE WERE SEEN AR
RY WE WERE SEE TAR
ROWE WERE SEE TAR
ROWE WERE SEET DR
ROWE WERE SEET MR
ROWE WERE SEEK MR
ROWE WERE SEEP MR
RK WE WERE SEEP MR

And backwards:
S A GOOD O SON ONE S
RY SEE HE REMEMOR
RY FEETEREMEMOR
TO KEEPETERERS T
TO KEEPETERER IT
TO KEEPETE ME MIT
TO KEEPETED EDIT
TO KEEPETED EDN T
TAKEEPETED EDN T
TAKIIPIT I DIDN T

[Anxe]

Perhaps the pI of the protein is the code? I don't want to bother calculating it though.

Also, Siosilvar, could you run it through with just alternating letters?
AIIAYNV
ENNNNKA

AKNNNNE
VNYAIIA

ENNNNKA
AIIAYNV

VNYAIIA
AKNNNNE

Try all those. Might get something else. Amino acid codes have that alternating sides thing, just like in the picture.

[Brother Oni]

Maybe the start and end alanines are a red herring? They haven't been notated properly, but then again it's a tattoo - who would pay extra (and suffer extra inking) just to insert false clues into their message?

[noparlpf]

Maybe this is a prank and we've all fallen for it by overthinking things so much.
Or maybe the friend just drew the wrong sequence.

[Elemental]

I rather doubt it is a prank. But I think you're right.
Perhaps the image was merely chosen because it looks interesting and unique, and not to convey a secret message?

[Shadowknight12]

Ask her if Anna Karenina (Анна Каренина) means something special to her.