Keto fatty acids

A rather limited collection of simple precursor molecules is sufficient to provide for the biosynthesis of virtually any cellular constituent, be it protein, nucleic acid, lipid, or polysaccharide. All of these substances are constructed from appropriate building blocks via the pathways of anabolism. In turn, the building blocks (amino acids, nucleotides, sugars, and fatty acids) can be generated from metabolites in the cell. For example, amino acids can be formed by amination of the corresponding a-keto acid carbon skeletons, and pyruvate can be converted to hexoses for polysaccharide biosynthesis. 

Thiamine pyrophosphate is a coenzyme for several enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. These enzymes either catalyze the decarboxylation of oi-keto acids or the rearrangement of the carbon skeletons of certain sugars. A particularly important example is provided by the conversion of pyruvic acid, an oi-keto acid, to acetic acid. The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex catalyzes this reaction. This is the key reaction that links the degradation of sugars to the citric acid cycle and fatty acid synthesis (chapters 16 and 18) ... 

The negative ion electrospray MS of fatty acid hydroperoxides exhibits various typical features that may be useful for characterization of this type of compounds, such as loss of small neutral molecules and fragmentation associated with the position of the OOH group. The [M — H] and [M — H2O peaks are usually most abundant and cleavage of the double bond allylic to the hydroperoxy group is also observed. The features of the fragmentation after loss of H2O in the MS of a fatty acid hydroperoxide are the same as those observed in the MS of the analogous keto acid . ... 

Inhibits conversion of fatty acids and amino acids to keto acids... 

Bovine milk fat contains low concentrations of keto and hydroxy acids (each at c. 0.3% of total fatty acids). The keto acids may have the carbonyl group (C=0) at various positions. The 3-keto acids give rise to methyl O... 

Hydroxy acids are produced by 5-oxidation of fatty acids and / -keto acids may arise from incomplete syntheses or via -oxidation. 

Oxidation of a-amino acids to keto acids catalysed by D- and L-amino acid oxidases Oxidation of NADH via the cytochrome system catalyzed by cytochrome reductase Energy production via the TCA or Krebs cycle catalyzed by succinate dehydrogenase Fatty acid oxidation catalyzed by acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenases Synthesis of fatty acids from acetate (80,81)... 

N-Benzylamides are recommended when the corresponding acid is liquid and/or water-soluble so that it cannot itself serve as a derivative. The benzyl-amides derived from the simple fatty acids or their esters are not altogether satisfactory since they are often low melting those derived from most hydroxy acids and from polybasic acids or their esters are formed in good yield and are easily purified. The esters of aromatic acids yield satisfactory derivatives but the method must compete with the equally simple process of hydrolysis and precipitation of the free acid, an obvious derivative when the acid is a solid. The procedure fails with esters of keto acids, sulphonic acids and inorganic acids and some halogenated aliphatic esters. 

As discussed earlier, the avermectin polyketide backbone is derived from seven acetate and five propionate extender units added to an a branched-chain fatty acid starter, which is either (S( I )-a-mcthylbutyric acid or isobutyric acid. The C25 position of naturally occurring avermectins has two possible substituents a. sec-butyl residue derived from the incorporation of S(+)-a-methy lbutyry 1-CoA ( a avermectins), or an isopropyl residue derived from the incorporation of isobutyiyl-CoA ( b avermectins). These a branched-chain fatty acids, which act as starter units in the biosynthesis of the polyketide ring, are derived from the a branched-chain amino acids isoleucine and valine through a branched-chain amino acid transaminase reaction followed by a branched-chain a-keto acid dehydrogenase (BCDH) reaction (Fig. 5) [23]. 

These results confirmed that branched-chain amino acid catabolism via the BCDH reaction provides the fatty acid precursors for natural avermectin biosynthesis in S. avermitilis. In contrast, B. subtilis appears to possess two mechanisms for branched-chain precursor supply. The dual substrate pyruvate/branched-chain a-keto acid dehydrogenase (aceA) and an a-keto acid dehydrogenase (bfmB), which also has some ability to metabolize pyruvate, appears to be primarily involved in supplying the branched-chain initiators of long, branched-chain fatty acid biosynthesis [32,42], Two mutations are therefore required to generate the bkd phenotype in B. subtilis [31,42],... 

K Willecke, AB Pardee. Fatty acid-requiring mutant of Bacillus subtilis defective in branched chain a-keto acid dehydrogenase. J Biol Chem 246 5264-5272, 1971. 

The final step in the removal of two carbons from the fatty acid is the thiolytic cleavage to release acetyl-CoA. The term thiolytic refers to the use of Coenzyme A to bond with the carbonyl carbon of the P-keto acid. 

Lactones are cyclic compounds formed through the intramolecular esterification of a hydroxy fatty acid. 7-Lactones and 8-lactones, with fivesided and six-sided rings, respectively have been found in cheese (Jolly and Kosikowski, 1975 Wong et al., 1975 Collins et al., 2004). The origin of the precursor hydroxy fatty acids has been ascribed to a 8-oxidation system in the mammary gland of ruminants (see Fox et al., 2000), the reduction of keto acids (Wong et al., 1975) and/or the action of lipoxygenases and other enzymes present in members of the rumen microflora (Dufosse et al., 1994). Lactones have low flavor thresholds and while their aromas are not specifically cheese-like (their aromas have been described variously as peach, apricot and coconut ), they may contribute to the overall flavor of cheese (see Collins et al., 2004). 

Branched chain fatty acids, such as 2-methylpropanoic, and 2-methylbutanoic and 3-methylbutanoic acids, are not products of the fatty acid synthetic pathway. They are instead derived from oxidation of the aldehydes formed from a-keto acids during amino acid metabolism (Fig 8D.5). The mechanism of regulation is not known. 

That fatty acids may be oxidized by way of the tricarboxylic cycle has received serious consideration in recent years. Breusch has suggested that /3-keto acids resulting from the biological oxidation of long-... 

The resulting products are citric acid and a fatty acid reduced in length by two carbons. It is postulated that the remaining aliphatic acid after subsequent oxidation to the corresponding /3-keto acid undergoes a similar condensation. In this manner the complete breakdown of fatty acid chains is explained. 

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