Carnitine is a quaternary ammonium compound involved in metabolism in most mammals, plants, and some bacteria. In support of energy metabolism, carnitine transports long-chain fatty acids from the cytosol into mitochondria to be oxidized for free energy production, and also participates in removing products of metabolism from cells. Given its key metabolic roles, carnitine is concentrated in tissues like skeletal and cardiac muscle that metabolize fatty acids as an energy source. Generally individuals, including strict vegetarians, synthesize enough L-carnitine in vivo.
Fatty acid metabolism consists of various metabolic processes involving or closely related to fatty acids, a family of molecules classified within the lipid macronutrient category. These processes can mainly be divided into (1) catabolic processes that generate energy and (2) anabolic processes where they serve as building blocks for other compounds.
In biochemistry and metabolism, beta oxidation (also β-oxidation) is the catabolic process by which fatty acid molecules are broken down in the cytosol in prokaryotes and in the mitochondria in eukaryotes to generate acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA enters the citric acid cycle, generating NADH and FADH2, which are electron carriers used in the electron transport chain. It is named as such because the beta carbon of the fatty acid chain undergoes oxidation and is converted to a carbonyl group to start the cycle all over again. Beta-oxidation is primarily facilitated by the mitochondrial trifunctional protein, an enzyme complex associated with the inner mitochondrial membrane, although very long chain fatty acids are oxidized in peroxisomes.
Numerous genetic disorders are caused by errors in fatty acid metabolism. These disorders may be described as fatty oxidation disorders or as a lipid storage disorders, and are any one of several inborn errors of metabolism that result from enzyme defects affecting the ability of the body to oxidize fatty acids in order to produce energy within muscles, liver, and other cell types.
Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency, sometimes shortened to CPT-II or CPT2, is an autosomal recessively inherited genetic metabolic disorder characterized by an enzymatic defect that prevents long-chain fatty acids from being transported into the mitochondria for utilization as an energy source. The disorder presents in one of three clinical forms: lethal neonatal, severe infantile hepatocardiomuscular and myopathic.
Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase deficiency is a rare, autosomal recessive metabolic disorder that prevents the body from converting long-chain fatty acids into energy, particularly during periods without food. Carnitine, a natural substance acquired mostly through the diet, is used by cells to process fats and produce energy. People with this disorder have a faulty enzyme that prevents long-chain fatty acids from being transported into the innermost part of the mitochondria for processing.
Very long-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, mitochondrial (VLCAD) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ACADVL gene.
The inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) is the mitochondrial membrane which separates the mitochondrial matrix from the intermembrane space.
Palmitoylcarnitine is an ester derivative of carnitine involved in the metabolism of fatty acids. During the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), fatty acids undergo a process known as β-oxidation to produce energy in the form of ATP. β-oxidation occurs primarily within mitochondria, however the mitochondrial membrane prevents the entry of long chain fatty acids (>C10), so the conversion of fatty acids such as palmitic acid is key. Palmitic acid is brought to the cell and once inside the cytoplasm is first converted to Palmitoyl-CoA. Palmitoyl-CoA has the ability to freely pass the outer mitochondrial membrane, but the inner membrane is impermeable to the Acyl-CoA and thioester forms of various long-chain fatty acids such as palmitic acid. The palmitoyl-CoA is then enzymatically transformed into palmitoylcarnitine via the Carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase family. The palmitoylcarnitine is then actively transferred into the inner membrane of the mitochondria via the carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase. Once inside the inner mitochondrial membrane, the same Carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase family is then responsible for transforming the palmitoylcarnitine back to the palmitoyl-CoA form.
Fatty acid degradation is the process in which fatty acids are broken down into their metabolites, in the end generating acetyl-CoA, the entry molecule for the citric acid cycle, the main energy supply of living organisms, including bacteria and animals. It includes three major steps:
Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT1) also known as carnitine acyltransferase I, CPTI, CAT1, CoA:carnitine acyl transferase (CCAT), or palmitoylCoA transferase I, is a mitochondrial enzyme responsible for the formation of acyl carnitines by catalyzing the transfer of the acyl group of a long-chain fatty acyl-CoA from coenzyme A to l-carnitine. The product is often palmitoylcarnitine, but other fatty acids may also be substrates. It is part of a family of enzymes called carnitine acyltransferases. This "preparation" allows for subsequent movement of the acyl carnitine from the cytosol into the intermembrane space of mitochondria.
Translocase is a general term for a protein that assists in moving another molecule, usually across a cell membrane. These enzymes catalyze the movement of ions or molecules across membranes or their separation within membranes. The reaction is designated as a transfer from “side 1” to “side 2” because the designations “in” and “out”, which had previously been used, can be ambiguous. Translocases are the most common secretion system in Gram positive bacteria.
Mitochondrial import inner membrane translocase subunit Tim8 A, also known as deafness-dystonia peptide or protein is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the TIMM8A gene. This translocase has similarity to yeast mitochondrial proteins that are involved in the import of metabolite transporters from the cytoplasm into the mitochondrial inner membrane. The gene is mutated in deafness-dystonia syndrome and it is postulated that MTS/DFN-1 is a mitochondrial disease caused by a defective mitochondrial protein import system.
Electron transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, mitochondrial is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ETFDH gene. This gene encodes a component of the electron-transfer system in mitochondria and is essential for electron transfer from a number of mitochondrial flavin-containing dehydrogenases to the main respiratory chain.
Tricarboxylate transport protein, mitochondrial, also known as tricarboxylate carrier protein and citrate transport protein (CTP), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC25A1 gene. SLC25A1 belongs to the mitochondrial carrier gene family SLC25. High levels of the tricarboxylate transport protein are found in the liver, pancreas and kidney. Lower or no levels are present in the brain, heart, skeletal muscle, placenta and lung.
Mitochondrial import inner membrane translocase subunit TIM50 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TIMM50 gene. Tim50 is a subunit of the Tim23 translocase complex in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Mutations in TIMM50 can lead to epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, and 3-methylglutaconic aciduria. TIMM50 expression is increased in breast cancer cells and decreased in hypertrophic hearts.
A broad classification for genetic disorders that result from an inability of the body to produce or utilize an enzyme or transport protein that is required to oxidize fatty acids. They are an inborn error of lipid metabolism, and when it affects the muscles also a metabolic myopathy.
Fatty acyl-CoA esters are fatty acid derivatives formed of one fatty acid, a 3'-phospho-AMP linked to phosphorylated pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and cysteamine.
Mitochondrial import inner membrane translocase subunit TIM16 also known as presequence translocated-associated motor subunit PAM16, mitochondria-associated granulocyte macrophage CSF-signaling molecule, or presequence translocated-associated motor subunit PAM16 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PAM16 gene.
Inner mitochondrial membrane peptidase subunit 2 (IMMP2L) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the IMMP2L gene on chromosome 7. This protein catalyzes the removal of transit peptides required for the targeting of proteins from the mitochondrial matrix, across the inner membrane, into the intermembrane space. IMMP2L processes the nuclear encoded protein DIABLO.
