Enzymes acyltransferase

Kornberg and Pricer (1953 b) further showed that liver contains enzymes (acyltransferases) capable of catalysing the esterification of L-a-glycerophosphate by acyl CoA to yield phosphatidic acid. Presumably the esterification takes place in two stages ... 

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... 

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. 

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). 

From what you read in Section 6.3, does the enzyme IPN-acyltransferase exhibit a high degree of specificity Given reasons for your answer. 

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. 

Lysolecithin (lysophosphatidylcholine) may be formed by an alternative route that involves lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT). This enzyme. 

Apohpoproteins carry out several roles (1) they can form part of the stmcture of the hpoprotein, eg, apo B (2) they are enzyme cofactors, eg, C-11 for lipoprotein hpase, A-1 for lecithinicholesterol acyltransferase, or enzyme inhibitors, eg, apo A-11 and apo C-111 for lipoprotein hpase, apo C-1 for cholesteryl ester transfer protein and (3) they act as hgands for interaction with lipopro-... 

HDL is synthesized and secreted from both liver and intestine (Figure 25—5). However, apo C and apo E are synthesized in the liver and transferred from fiver HDL to intestinal HDL when the latter enters the plasma. A major function of HDL is to act as a repository for the apo C and apo E required in the metabohsm of chylomicrons and VLDL. Nascent HDL consists of discoid phosphohpid bilayers containing apo A and free cholesterol. These hpoproteins are similar to the particles found in the plasma of patients with a deficiency of the plasma enzyme lecithimcholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and in the plasma of patients with obstructive jaundice. LCAT—and the LCAT activator apo A-I— bind to the disk, and the surface phosphohpid and free cholesterol are converted into cholesteryl esters and... 

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

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). 

In order to analyze the effect that conformational restriction has on the antibiotic enzymatic inactivation, three different enzymes were chosen as model systems Staphylococcus aureus ANT(4 ), Mycobacterium tuberculosis AAC(2 ) and Enterococcus faecalis APH(3 ). These proteins are representative of the three main families of enzymes that modify aminoglycosides adenyltrans-ferases, acyltransferases and phosphotransferases. In addition, there is high resolution X-ray structural information available for the three enzymes in complex with several antibiotics. 

ICAT (or PCAT, phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol acyltransferase) is an enzyme in the blood that is activated by apoA-1 on HDL. LCAT adds a fatty add to cholesterol, producing cholesterol esters, which dissolve in the core of the HDL, allowing HDL to transport cholesterol from the periphery to the liver. This process of reverse cholesterol transport is shown in Figure 1-15-7. 

The best-known effect of APOE is the regulation of lipid metabolism (see Fig. 10.13). APOE is a constituent of TG-rich chylomicrons, VLDL particles and their remnants, and a subclass of HDL. In addition to its role in the transport of cholesterol and the metabolism of lipoprotein particles, APOE can be involved in many other physiological and pathological processes, including immunoregu-lation, nerve regeneration, activation of lipolytic enzymes (hepatic lipase, lipoprotein lipase, lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase), ligand for several cell receptors, neuronal homeostasis, and tissue repair (488,490). APOE is essential... 

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. 

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