Acyltransferase fatty acid

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 9. Endogenous lipoprotein metabolism. In liver cells, cholesterol and triglycerides are packaged into VLDL particles and exported into blood where VLDL is converted to IDL. Intermediate-density lipoprotein can be either cleared by hepatic LDL receptors or further metabolized to LDL. LDL can be cleared by hepatic LDL receptors or can enter the arterial wall, contributing to atherosclerosis. Acetyl CoA, acetyl coenzyme A Apo, apolipoprotein C, cholesterol CE, cholesterol ester FA, fatty acid HL, hepatic lipase HMG CoA, 3-hydroxy-3-methyglutaryl coenzyme A IDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein LCAT, lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase LDL, low-density lipoprotein LPL, lipoprotein lipase VLDL, very low-density lipoprotein. 

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]. 

Due to the specificities of the acyltransferases in the pathways, the fatty acid at position one of glycerol is saturated whereas that at position 2 is monounsaturated (e.g. oleic acid), although in most glycerophospholipids, the fatty acid at position 2 is polyunsaturated (e.g. arachidonic or eicosapentaenoic acids). This is important for the... 

Secondly, the hydroxyl group now available at position 2 is re-esterified with another fatty acid in a reaction catalysed by an acyltransferase that is, the enzyme catalyses a re-esterification (i.e. acylation) with a different acyl-CoA. In many cases, this is a polyunsaturated fatty acid (such as arachidonoyl-CoA) and forms the more unsaturated phosphoglyceride ... 

The initial reactions produce phosphatidate, in which the two hydroxyl groups of glycerol 3-phosphate are esterified with long-chain fatty acids, catalysed by enzymes known as acyltransferases. An important point is that, due to the difference in specificities of the acyltransferase enzymes. 

The incorporation of the polyunsaturated fatty acid in position two depends upon removal of the monounsatu-rated fatty acid and replacement by the polyunsaturated acid. This is achieved by the action of two enzymes, (i) a deacylase and (ii) an acyltransferase. 

Comparison between DNA repair and phospholipid repair The processes that can lead to DNA damage and the type of damage are described in Chapter 9 and Appendix 9.6. The repair processes involve removal of the specific nucleotide(s) by an exonuclease and replacement of the nucleotide by a DNA polymerase. Since the strand must be broken to remove the damage (by an endonuclease) these parts of the strand must be repaired by a ligase. The process is known as excision-repair. Of interest, there is a degree of similarity between the removal of damaged polyunsaturated fatty acids from phospholipids in membranes and replacement with a new fatty acid by two enzymes, a deacylase and an acyltransferase (see above and Chapter 11), and excision-repair of DNA. 

The inner mitochondrial membrane has a group-specific transport system for fatty acids. In the cytoplasm, the acyl groups of activated fatty acids are transferred to carnitine by carnitine acyltransferase [1 ]. They are then channeled into the matrix by an acylcar-nitine/carnitine antiport as acyl carnitine, in exchange for free carnitine. In the matrix, the mitochondrial enzyme carnitine acyltransferase catalyzes the return transfer of the acyl residue to CoA. 

The carnitine shuttle is the rate-determining step in mitochondrial fatty acid degradation. Malonyl CoA, a precursor of fatty acid biosynthesis, inhibits carnitine acyltransferase (see p. 162), and therefore also inhibits uptake of fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix. 

Esterification of glycerol 3-phosphate with a long-chain fatty acid produces a strongly amphipathic lysophosphatidate (enzyme glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 2.3.1.15). In this reaction, an acyl residue is transferred from the activated precursor acyl-CoA to the hydroxy group at C-1. 

With the clofibrate type of inducer, other changes are also apparent. Thus, there is a proliferation in the number of peroxisomes (an intracellular organelle) as well as induction of a particular form of cytochrome P-450 involved in fatty acid metabolism. A number of other enzymes associated with the role of this organelle in fatty acid metabolism are also increased, such as carnitine acyltransferase and catalase. This phenomenon is discussed in more detail in chapter 6. 

A, freeing carnitine to return to the intermembrane space through the same transporter. Acyltransferase I is inhibited by malonyl-CoA, the first intermediate in fatty acid synthesis (see Fig. 21-1). This inhibition prevents the simultaneous synthesis and degradation of fatty acids... 

Malonyl-CoA, an early intermediate of fatty acid synthesis, inhibits carnitine acyltransferase I, preventing fatty acid entry into mitochondria This blocks fatty acid breakdown while synthesis is occurring. 

If fatty acid synthesis and J8 oxidation were to proceed simultaneously, the two processes would constitute a futile cycle, wasting energy. We noted earlier (see Fig. 17-12) that /3 oxidation is blocked by malonyl-CoA, which inhibits carnitine acyltransferase I. Thus during fatty acid synthesis, the production of the first intermediate, malonyl-CoA, shuts down J8 oxidation at the level of a transport system in the mitochondrial inner membrane. This control mechanism illustrates another advantage of segregating synthetic and degradative pathways in different cellular compartments. 

Regulation of the LDL receptor gene involves a hormone-response element (HRE, see p. 238).] Third, if the cholesterol is not required immediately for some structural or synthetic purpose, it is esterified by acyl CoA cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT, AC AT transfers a fatty acid from a fatty acyl CoA derivative to cholesterol, producing a cholesteryl ester that can be stored in the cell (Figure 18.21). The activity of ACAT is enhanced in the presence of increased intracellular cholesterol. 

Esterification of cholesterol When cholesterol is taken up by HDL, it is immediately esterified by the plasma enzyme phos-phatidylcholine cholesterol acyltransferase (PCAT, also known as LCAT, in which "L" stands for lecithin). This enzyme is synthesized by the liver. PCAT binds to nascent HDLs, and is activated by apo A-l. PCAT transfers the fatty acid from carbon 2 of phosphatidyl-... 

The esterification of fatty acids in the mammary cell has been reported as a function of the microsomes and mitochondria (Bauman and Davis 1974 Moore and Christie 1978). While both microsomes and mitochondria may have acyltransferase activity, it has been observed to be 10 times greater in the microsomal fraction of the rat mammary cell (Tanioka et al. 1974). Based on autoradiographic studies, it appears that most synthesis of milk TG occurs in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of mouse mammary tissue (Stein and Stein 1971). 

In many in vitro studies the acylation of the sn-3 position appears to be the rate-limiting step in TG synthesis. It has been suggested that the intracellular concentration of medium chain fatty acids may limit the final acylation reaction in TG synthesis (Dimmena and Emery 1981). Another theory is that the concentration of phosphatidate phosphatase, the enzyme that hydrolyzes the phosphate bond in phospha-tidic acid, yielding DG, may be the limiting factor (Moore and Christie 1978). The DG acyltransferase responsible for the final acylation of milk TG has been studied in mammary tissue from lactating rats (Lin et al. 1976). It was observed to be specific for the sn-1,2 DG, with very little activity observed with the sn-1,3 or sn-2,3 DG. It exhibited a broad specificity for acyl donors. The acyl-CoA specificity was not affected by the type of 1,2 DG acceptor offered, which implies that the type of fatty acid introduced into the glycerol backbone was not influenced by the specificity of subsequent acylation steps. However, the concentration of acyl donors will affect the final acylation. It was ob-... 

Figure 21-11 Catalytic domains within three polypeptide chains of the modular polyketide synthase that forms 6-deoxyerythronolide B, the aglycone of the widely used antibiotic erythromycin. The domains are labeled as for fatty acid synthases AT, acyltransferase ACP, acyl carrier protein KS, 3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase KR, ketoreductase DH, dehydrase ER, enoylreductase TE, thioesterase. After Pieper et al.338 Courtesy of Chaitan Khosla.

Similarly, factors that stimulate acetyl-CoA carboxylase, the first enzyme in the pathway for fatty acid synthesis, also discourage fatty acid catabolism. This dual effect occurs because the first enzyme in the pathway leads to the formation of malonyl-CoA, which is a potent inhibitor of carnitine acyltransferase I. This inhibition prevents the transport of fatty acids into the mitochondrion, thereby, preventing fatty acid breakdown. 

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