Fatty Acid Biosynthesis Flashcards
When are fatty acids synthesized?
Whenever excess calories is ingested
- Major source of C for synthesis of fatty acids is dietary carbohydrate
Which tissue are fatty acids synthesized?
Primarily in the liver
To a lesser extent in adipose tissue
What happens when excess dietary carbohydrate is consumed?
Glucose is converted to acetyl CoA
Acetyl CoA provides the 2C unit that condense in a series of reactions on the fatty acid synthase complex, producing palmitate that is converted to other fatty acids
Where is fatty acid synthase complex located?
In the cytosol (and therefore uses cytosolic acetyl-CoA)
What site are fatty acids synthesized?
Cytosol
What are the redox coenzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis?
NADP+/NADPH
What site are fatty acids degraded?
Mitochondria
What are the redox coenzymes involved in fatty acid degradation?
NAD+/NADH
Fatty acid occurs in the cytosol and starts with Acetyl Co-A. What is the problem associated with that?
- Most acetyl CoA is produced in the mitochondria
- Acetyl CoA is unable to travel through the mitochondrial membrane
Using mitochondrial derived Acetyl CoA in the cytosol
- Pyruvate produced in the cytosol then transferred to the mitochondria
- Pyruvate + pyruvate dehydrogenase –> Acetyl CoA
- Fatty acid (in the mitochondria) + beta oxidation –> acetyl CoA
- Acetyl CoA + oxaloacetate –> citrate
- Citrate crosses the mitochondrial membrane and enters the cytoplasm
- Citrate + ATP-citrate lyase –> acetyl CoA
- Or AA in the cytosol can be converted to acetyl coA
What is the rate limiting step in fatty acid synthesis?
conversion of acetyl CoA to Malonyl CoA by acetyl carboxylase
Reaction is irreversible
What is malonyl Co-A?
The immediate donor of the 2C units added to the growing fatty acid chain on the fatty acid synthase complex
How is malonyl Co-A synthesized?
Acetyl Co-A carboxylase adds a carboxyl group to acetyl Co-A in the presence of ATP and biotin
How is the rate limiting step of fatty acid synthesis regulated?
What stimulates it?
What inhibits it?
- It is less active when phosphorylated and more active when dephosphorylated.
- Insulin dephosphorylates it and therefore activates it
- Citrate stimulates it (feed forward regulation)
- Palmitoyl CoA inhibits it (feedback inhibition - product of the pathway inhibits it)
Describe the fatty acid synthase complex
- It contains 2 identical subunits in a head to tail arrangement
- Each subunit has seven catalytic activities
- The Acyl Carrier Protein (ACP) segment contains a phosphopantetheine