Fatty acid carbon supply

Bacterial mutants that are unable to synthesize fatty acids will incorporate them into their membranes when fatty acids are supplied in their growth medium. Suppose that each of two cultures contains a mixture of several types of straight-chain fatty acids, some saturated and some unsaturated, ranging in chain length from 10 to 20 carbon atoms. If one culture is maintained at 18°C and the other is maintained at 40°C over several generations, what differences in the composition of the cell membranes of the two cultures would you expect to observe ... 

FIGURE 25.1 The citrate-malate-pyruvate shuttle provides cytosolic acetate units and reducing equivalents (electrons) for fatty acid synthesis. The shuttle collects carbon substrates, primarily from glycolysis but also from fatty acid oxidation and amino acid catabolism. Most of the reducing equivalents are glycolytic in origin. Pathways that provide carbon for fatty acid synthesis are shown in blue pathways that supply electrons for fatty acid synthesis are shown in red. 

In common with cholesterol synthesis described in the next section, fatty acids are derived from glucose-derived acetyl-CoA. In the fed state when glucose is plentiful and more than sufficient acetyl-CoA is available to supply the TCA cycle, carbon atoms are transported out of the mitochondrion as citrate (Figure 6.8). Once in the cytosol, citrate lyase forms acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate (OAA) from the citrate. The OAA cannot re-enter the mitochondrion but is converted into malate by cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (cMDH) and then back into OAA by mitochondrial MDH (mMDH) Acetyl-CoA remains in the cytosol and is available for fatty acid synthesis. 

Infants require a substantial supplementation of AA, which is normally supplied through breast milk. Almost 10% of the membrane phospholipid content of breast fed infants was found to be AA in one study (Koletzko et ah, 1996). A crucial factor of the developing infant brain is the amount and type of polyunsaturated fatty acids they receive from their diet. That is, the ratio of dietary n-3 fatty acids (those in which the unsaturation begins 3 carbons from the terminal carbon) to n-6 fatty acids can be optimized to... 

By contrast, acetyl CoA does not have anaplerotic effects in animal metabolism. Its carbon skeleton is completely oxidized to CO2 and is therefore no longer available for biosynthesis. Since fatty acid degradation only supplies acetyl CoA, animals are unable to convert fatty acids into glucose. During periods of hunger, it is therefore not the fat reserves that are initially drawn on, but proteins. In contrast to fatty acids, the amino acids released are able to maintain the blood glucose level (see p. 308). 

In hepatocytes and adipocytes, cytosolic NADPH is largely generated by the pentose phosphate pathway (see Fig. 14-21) and by malic enzyme (Fig. 21-9a). The NADP-linked malic enzyme that operates in the carbon-assimilation pathway of C4 plants (see Fig. 20-23) is unrelated in function. The pyruvate produced in the reaction shown in Figure 21-9a reenters the mitochondrion. In hepatocytes and in the mammary gland of lactating animals, the NADPH required for fatty acid biosynthesis is supplied primarily by the pentose phosphate pathway (Fig. 21-9b). 

The energy for the carbon-to-carbon condensations in fatty acid synthesis is supplied by the process of carboxylation and then decarboxylation of acetyl groups in the cytosol. The carboxylation of acetyl CcA to form malonyl CoA is catalyzed by acetyl CoA carboxylase (Figure 16.7), and requires HC03 )and ATP. The coenzyme is the vitamin, biotin, which is covalently bound to a lysyl residue of the carboxylase. 

In this section we have seen that fatty acids are oxidized in units of two carbon atoms. The immediate end products of this oxidation are FADH2 and NADH, which supply energy through the respiratory chain, and acetyl-CoA, which has multiple possible uses in addition to the generation of energy via the tricarboxylic acid cycle and respiratory chain. Unsaturated fatty acids can also be oxidized in the mitochondria with the help of auxiliary enzymes. Ketone body synthesis from acetyl-CoA is an important liver function for transfer of energy to other tissues, especially brain, when glucose levels are decreased as in diabetes or starvation. 

The biosynthetic pathway of prostaglandins and other eicosanoids is outlined in Figure 15-2. Basically, these compounds are derived from a 20-carbon essential fatty acid. In humans, this fatty acid is usually arachi-donic acid,68,73 which is ingested in the diet and stored as a phospholipid in the cell membrane. Thus, the cell has an abundant and easily accessible supply of this... 

C2 A two-carbon unit may be supplied by acetyl-CoA. This could be a simple acetyl group, as in an ester, but more frequently it forms part of a long alkyl chain (as in a fatty acid) or may be part of an aromatic system (e.g. phenols). Of particular relevance is that in the latter examples, acetyl-CoA is first converted into the more reactive malonyl-CoA before its incorporation. 

Mammals lack the enzymes to insert double bonds at carbon atoms beyond C-9 in the fatty acid chain. Thus they cannot synthesize linoleate and linole-nate, both of which have double bonds later in the chain than C-9 (linoleate has cis, cis A9, A12 double bonds, and linolenate has all-ris A9, A12, A15 double bonds). Hence, in mammals linoleate and linolenate are called essential fatty acids since they have to be supplied in the diet. These two unsaturated fatty acids are also the starting points for the synthesis of other unsaturated fatty acids, such as arachidonate. This C20 4 fatty acid is the precursor of several biologically important molecules, including the prostaglandins, prostacyclins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes (see Topic Kl). 

Oxidation of individual hydrocarbons may be exemplified by the work of Medvedev (232) who has been studying these reactions for a number of years and has more recently investigated the effect of oxygen on polymerization reactions. Neutral phosphates of aluminum, tin or iron, tin borate, etc., were found to be suitable for the conversion of methane to formaldehyde at 500°C. A practical aspect of this research is represented by the homogeneous oxidation of petroleum stocks in the presence of naphthenates which was developed by Petrov into an industrial process to supply fatty acids for the soap making and grease making industry (298,299). Kreshkov oxidized methane to formaldehyde in the presence of chlorine and steam over chlorides of copper or barium or over vanadium pentoxide on carbon (179), but his yields were low. 

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