In prokaryotic proline biosynthesis, GSA is synthesized from γ-glutamyl phosphate by the enzyme γ-glutamyl phosphate reductase. In most eukaryotes, GSA is synthesised from the amino acid glutamate by the bifunctional enzyme 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS). The human P5CS is encoded by the ALDH18A1 gene. The enzyme pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase converts P5C into proline
