Fatty acid metabolism elongation

Fatty Acids Synthesis, Elongation, and Desaturation. The main objective of feeding fats to animals is to provide a concentrated energy source, not to have the fat stored in the tissues. Recognized EFA requirements are no more than several percent of dry matter at the most, but the critical roles they play in maintaining the metabolic machinery has attracted the majority of current research on dietary fat utilization. 

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the relation between fatty acid metabolism and PHA synthesis in P. putida (Eggink et al. 1992). The possibility to generate PHA precursors by elongation of medium chain length fatty acids (see text) is not included in this figure.

In previous reviews [e.g. 1,3] I have described the action of three groups of herbicides on fatty acid metabolism. Thiocarbamates inhibit fatty acid elongation, substituted pyridazinones inhibit some desaturases while grass-specific herbicides have acetyl-CoA carboxylase as their target site. 

Several of the B vitamins are essential for normal fatty-acid metabolism (Table 2). Pantothenic acid is a constituent of CoA and is thus required for numerous reactions of fatty acids. Niacin and riboflavin are necessary for the synthesis of oxidized and reduced NAD(P) and FAD, respectively. These compounds play essential roles in fatty-acid oxidation, synthesis, and elongation. Biotin is a constituent of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and pyruvate carboxylase, both of which are involved in the synthesis of fatty acids from glucose. Thiamine is required for activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, which also participates in fatty-acid synthesis from glucose. 

Figure 2 Essential fatty acid metabolism desaturation and elongation of n-6 and n-3.

Figure 3.7 Model of intermolecular fatty acid synthetase mechanism in the a2 2 protomer of yeast. A, acetyl transferase E, enoyl reductase D, dehydratase P, palmitoyl transferase M, malonyl transferase C, 5-ketoacyl synthase R. )5-ketoacyl reductase ACP, acyl carrier protein. Dotted lines and arrows delineate the route taken by intermediates when sequentially processed on different FAS domains. Numbers indicate the reaction sequence. Catalytically active dohnains, at a specific moment, are marked by bold lines. Shaded areas on E and P domains potentially interact by hydrophobic attraction in the presence of palmitate (b). On the protomer depicted in (a) fatty acyl chain elongation occurs in one half of the a2 2 protomer. In (b) chain termination is induced by hydrophobic interaction between E> bound palmitate and P. Subsequently, palmitate Is transferred to Its O-ester binding site on P. Inactivation of the left half of simultaneously activates its right half (b). Redrawn from Schweizer (1984) with permission of the author and Elsevier Science Publishers, BV. From Fatty Acid Metabolism and its Regulation (1984) (ed. S. Numa), p. 73, Figure 7.

Certain long-chain unsaturated fatty acids of metabolic significance in mammals are shown in Figure 23-1. Other C20, C22, and C24 polyenoic fatty acids may be derived from oleic, linoleic, and a-flnolenic acids by chain elongation. Palmitoleic and oleic acids are not essential in the diet because the tissues can introduce a double bond at the position of a saturated fatty acid. 

After the extraction of lipid and nonlipid components from the leaves of mandarin orange Citrus reticulata, the lipid fraction was further separated by PTLC to determine different lipid classes that affect the chemical deterrence of C. reticulata to the leaf cutting ecat Acromyrmex octopinosus. These lipids seem to be less attractive to the ants [81a]. The metabolism of palmitate in the peripheral nerves of normal and Trembler mice was studied, and the polar lipid fraction purified by PTLC was used to determine the fatty acid composition. It was found that the fatty acid composition of the polar fraction was abnormal, correlating with the decreased overall palmitate elongation and severely decreased synthesis of saturated long-chain fatty acids (in mutant nerves) [81b]. 

Particularly in the metabolism of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, the process of elongation occurs in sequence with desaturation to produce the specific acids required by the tissues in the body. 

Palmitic acid may be converted to stearic acid (C1K 0) by elongation of the carbon chain. Desaturation of stearic acid produces oleic acid (C18 1 A9). Linoleic acid (Ci8 2A9,12), however, cannot be synthesized in mammalian tissues. Therefore, it is an essential fatty acid for animals and must be obtained from the diet it has two important metabolic roles. One is to maintain the fluid state of membrane lipids, lipoproteins, and storage lipids. The other role is as a precursor of arachidonic acid, which has a specialized role in the formation of prostaglandins (Sec. 13.9). 

Pantothenic acid has a central role in energy-yielding metabolism as the functional moiety of coenzyme A (CoA), in the biosynthesis of fatty acids as the prosthetic group of acyl carrier protein, and through its role in CoA in the mitochondrial elongation of fatty acids the biosynthesis of steroids, porphyrins, and acetylcholine and other acyl transfer reactions, including postsynthetic acylation of proteins. Perhaps 4% of all known enzymes utilize CoA derivatives. CoA is also bound by disulfide links to protein cysteine residues in sporulating bacteria, where it may be involved with heat resistance of the spores, and in mitochondrial proteins, where it seems to be involved in the assembly of active cytochrome c oxidase and ATP synthetase complexes. 

Fig. (4). Metabolic pathway of essential fatty acids of the n-6 and n-3 series via elongation-desaturation steps.

Fig. 1. Metabolic pathway of essential fatty acids. Recent evidence indicated that 22 6n-3 are produced by [l-oxidation of 24 6n-3, which is desaturated from 24 5n-3, after elongation from 22 5n-3. Very long-chain fatty acids in the box are found in the retina however, the metabolism and function is not known.

Once ingested, these essential fatty acids can be metabolized into longer, more unsaturated products (Holman, 1968). This process involves sequential desaturation (adding double bonds) and chain elongation (adding carbon atoms), as shown in Fig. 1. The important aspect of Fig. 1 is that the n-6 and n-3 families compete for the enzymes responsible for desaturation (Sinclair, 1993). The main metabolite of the n-6 series is arachidonic acid (20 4n-6, AA), whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (20 5n-3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22 6n-3, DHA) are the main metabolites ofthe n-3 series (Holman, 1968). The metabolic pathways leading to DHA are complicated by involving retroconversion from 24 6n-3 to 22 6n-3 (DHA) (Voss et al., 1991). 

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