Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleoside triphosphate that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms of life, it is often referred to as the "molecular unit of currency" for intracellular energy transfer.
Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All genomes sequenced to date encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a substrate, and around 4% of cellular enzymes use it (or a thioester) as a substrate. In humans, CoA biosynthesis requires cysteine, pantothenate (vitamin B5), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Acetyl-CoA is a molecule that participates in many biochemical reactions in protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Its main function is to deliver the acetyl group to the citric acid cycle to be oxidized for energy production.
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.
In the mitochondrion, the matrix is the space within the inner membrane. The word "matrix" stems from the fact that this space is viscous, compared to the relatively aqueous cytoplasm. The mitochondrial matrix contains the mitochondrial DNA, ribosomes, soluble enzymes, small organic molecules, nucleotide cofactors, and inorganic ions.[1] The enzymes in the matrix facilitate reactions responsible for the production of ATP, such as the citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, oxidation of pyruvate, and the beta oxidation of fatty acids.
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.
Malonyl-CoA is a coenzyme A derivative of malonic acid.
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.
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.
Acyl-CoA is a group of CoA-based coenzymes that metabolize carboxylic acids. Fatty acyl-CoA's are susceptible to beta oxidation, forming, ultimately, acetyl-CoA. The acetyl-CoA enters the citric acid cycle, eventually forming several equivalents of ATP. In this way, fats are converted to ATP, the common biochemical energy carrier.
In biochemistry, fatty acid synthesis is the creation of fatty acids from acetyl-CoA and NADPH through the action of enzymes called fatty acid synthases. This process takes place in the cytoplasm of the cell. Most of the acetyl-CoA which is converted into fatty acids is derived from carbohydrates via the glycolytic pathway. The glycolytic pathway also provides the glycerol with which three fatty acids can combine to form triglycerides, the final product of the lipogenic process. When only two fatty acids combine with glycerol and the third alcohol group is phosphorylated with a group such as phosphatidylcholine, a phospholipid is formed. Phospholipids form the bulk of the lipid bilayers that make up cell membranes and surrounds the organelles within the cells. In addition to cytosolic fatty acid synthesis, there is also mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFASII), in which malonyl-CoA is formed from malonic acid with the help of malonyl-CoA synthetase (ACSF3), which then becomes the final product octanoyl-ACP (C8) via further intermediate steps.
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:
Palmitoyl-CoA is an acyl-CoA thioester. It is an "activated" form of palmitic acid and can be transported into the mitochondrial matrix by the carnitine shuttle system, and once inside can participate in beta-oxidation. Alternatively, palmitoyl-CoA is used as a substrate in the biosynthesis of sphingosine.
The long chain fatty acyl-CoA ligase is an enzyme of the ligase family that activates the oxidation of complex fatty acids. Long chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase catalyzes the formation of fatty acyl-CoA by a two-step process proceeding through an adenylated intermediate. The enzyme catalyzes the following reaction,
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.
Thiolases, also known as acetyl-coenzyme A acetyltransferases (ACAT), are enzymes which convert two units of acetyl-CoA to acetoacetyl CoA in the mevalonate pathway.
Pantothenate kinase (EC 2.7.1.33, PanK; CoaA) is the first enzyme in the Coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthetic pathway. It phosphorylates pantothenate (vitamin B5) to form 4'-phosphopantothenate at the expense of a molecule of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It is the rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of CoA.
Butyrate—CoA ligase, also known as xenobiotic/medium-chain fatty acid-ligase (XM-ligase), is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction:
Carnitine O-octanoyltransferase is a member of the transferase family, more specifically a carnitine acyltransferase, a type of enzyme which catalyzes the transfer of acyl groups from acyl-CoAs to carnitine, generating CoA and an acyl-carnitine. Specifically, CROT catalyzes the chemical reaction:
