Figure 1.

While glutamine can be converted to glutamate to exert functions indicated on the left-hand side, glutamine has its own specific functions: (1) The terminal amide group in glutamine (highlighted in orange) is the primary nitrogen source for several macromolecules; (2) the entire glutamine molecule can function to drive the uptake of essential amino acids (EAA) and activate mTOR; (3) the glutamine synthesis reaction can help balance pH and detoxify ammonia and glutamate.