Acyl- acyltransferase

All of the other enzymes of the /3-oxidation pathway are located in the mitochondrial matrix. Short-chain fatty acids, as already mentioned, are transported into the matrix as free acids and form the acyl-CoA derivatives there. However, long-chain fatty acyl-CoA derivatives cannot be transported into the matrix directly. These long-chain derivatives must first be converted to acylearnitine derivatives, as shown in Figure 24.9. Carnitine acyltransferase I, located on the outer side of the inner mitochondrial membrane, catalyzes the formation of... 

FIGURE 25.20 Triacylglycerols are formed primarily by the action of acyltransferases on mono- and diacylglycerol. Acyltransferase in E. coli is an integral membrane protein (83 kD) and can utilize either fatty acyl-CoAs or acylated acyl carrier proteins as substrates. It shows a particular preference for palmitoyl groups. Eukaryotic acyltransferases nse only fatty acyl-CoA molecnles as substrates. 

Although lanosterol may appear similar to cholesterol in structure, another 20 steps are required to convert lanosterol to cholesterol (Figure 25.35). The enzymes responsible for this are all associated with the endoplasmic reticulum. The primary pathway involves 7-dehydroeholesterol as the penultimate intermediate. An alternative pathway, also composed of many steps, produces the intermediate desmosterol. Reduction of the double bond at C-24 yields cholesterol. Cholesterol esters—a principal form of circulating cholesterol—are synthesized by acyl-CoA cholesterol acyltransferases (ACAT) on the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum. 

FIGURE 25.39 Endocytosis and degradation of lipoprotein particles. (ACAT is acyl-CoA cholesterol acyltransferase.)... 

Different strains of micro-organisms are responsible for the production of either penicillins or cephalosporins. In penicillin-producing strains, an acyltransferase enzyme system is present which can remove the side chain from isopenirillin N to give 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA), and which can subsequently acylate 6-APA to generate various penicillins, the most important ones being penicillin G and V(see section 6.3, Table 6.2). 

Although a range of penicillins could be produced by directed biosynthesis using precursor feeding, this approach is limited by the toxicity of the precursors, the ability of the penicillin producing cells to take up the precursor and by the capability of the acyltransferase to transfer the acyl groups onto the 6-aminopenicillanic add moiety. 

Mitochondria have an outer membrane that is permeable to most metabohtes, an inner membrane that is selectively permeable, and a matrix within (Figure 12-1). The outer membrane is characterized by the presence of various enzymes, including acyl-CoA synthetase and glycerolphosphate acyltransferase. Adenylyl kinase and creatine kinase are found in the intermembrane space. The phospholipid cardiolipin is concentrated in the inner membrane together with the enzymes of the respiratory chain. 

Figure 26-5. Factors affecting cholesterol balance at the cellular level. Reverse cholesterol transport may be initiated by pre 3 HDL binding to the ABC-1 transporter protein via apo A-l. Cholesterol is then moved out of the cell via the transporter, lipidating the HDL, and the larger particles then dissociate from the ABC-1 molecule. (C, cholesterol CE, cholesteryl ester PL, phospholipid ACAT, acyl-CoA cholesterol acyltransferase LCAT, lecithinicholesterol acyltransferase A-l, apolipoprotein A-l LDL, low-density lipoprotein VLDL, very low density lipoprotein.) LDL and HDL are not shown to scale.

ABA-l-GAT Arsanilic acid conjugated with the synthetic polypeptide l-GAT AC Adenylate cyclase ACAT Acyl-co-enzyme-A acyltransferase... 

The third acyl residue is transferred onto diglyceride by means of diglyceride acyltransferase... 

Cholesterol esters are produced by transferring an acyl moiety from acyl-CoA or from phosphatidylcholine onto the cholesterol hydroxyl group. The latter process is catalyzed by phosphatidylcholine cholesterol acyltransferase ... 

Okuyama, H., Yamada, K., Ikezawa, H. and Wakil, S.J. (1976) Factors affecting the acyl selectivities of acyltransferases in Escherichia coli. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 251 (8), 2487-2492. 

Figure 11.2 Biosynthesis of the nine-membered enediynes. Members of this family share a common biosynthetic pathway for the enediyne core intermediate. Domains are shown in circles with abbreviations (KS, ketosynthase AT, acyltransferase KR, ketoreductase DH, dehydratase TE, thioesterase ACP, acyl carrier protein PPT, phosphopantetheine transferase)...

Alkyl PAT, alkyl-dihydroxy phosphate synthase Bif, bifunctional enzyme DHAPAT, dihydroxyphosphate acyltransferase deficiency DHCA, dihydroxycholestanoic acid N, normal nd, not determined Ox, acyl-CoA oxidase Rac, 2-methylacyl-CoA racemase RCDP, rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata Ref, Refsum s disease THCA, trihydroxycholestanoic acid VLCFA, very-long-chain fatty acid. 

It has recently been demonstrated (191) that the nature and location of lipid A primary fatty acids is determined by the specificity of the enzymes UDP-GlcpNAc-G-acyltransferase and UDP-3-6>-[(i )-hydroxyacyl]-GlcpN-N-acyltransferase for acyl - acyl carrier protein (acyl ACP). The analysis of the acyl ACP specificity of these O- and A-acyltransferases should, therefore, constitute a biochemical approach for elucidation of the location of primary fatty acids in lipid A (191). 

W. E. Harris and W. L. Stahl, Incorporation of cis-parinaric acid, a fluorescent fatty acid, into synaptosomal phospholipids by an acyl-CoA acyltransferase, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 736, 79-91 (1983). 

Fatty-acid synthase (acyl-CoA malonyl-CoA C-acyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.85) is a multifunctional transferase that also has the capacity to hydrolyze thiolesters. The role of its thiolesterase domain is to terminate the growth of fatty acids by hydrolyzing acyl-CoA intermediates [131]. 

L. L. Gallo, S. B. Clark, S. Myers, G. V. Vahouny, Cholesterol Absorption in Rat Intestine Role of Cholesterol Esterase and Acyl Coenzyme A Cholesterol Acyltransferase , J. Lipid Res. 1984, 25, 604-612. 

T. F. Woolf, A. Black, Y. Y. Shum, W. Mcnally, H. Lee, T. Chang, BioDisposion Studies with the Acyl-Coenzyme-A-Cholesterol Acyltransferase Inhibitor 2,2-Dimethyl-V-(2,4,6-Trimethoxyphenyfidodecanamide, CI-976 , Drug Metab. Dispos. 1993, 21, 1112-1118. 

Puglielli, L., Konopka, G., Pack-Chung, E., Ingano, L.A., Berezovska, O., Hyman, B.T., Chang, T.Y., Tanzi, R.E., and Kovacs, D.M., Acyl-coenzyme A cholesterol acyltransferase modulates the generation of the amyloid beta-peptide, Nat. Cell Biol., 3, 905, 2001. 

Carnitine acyltransferase-2 transfers the fetty acyl group back to a CoA (mitochondrial matrix). 

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