Functional Organization of Fatty Acid Synthase

The assembly of rat liver FAS involves three stages synthesis of the multifunctional polypeptide chains, formation of the dimer, and attachment of a 4 -phosphopantetheine group by an enzyme-catalyzed reaction. This assembly process is influenced by changes in developmental, hormonal, and nutritional states. The FAS complex provides considerable catalytic efficiency, since free intermediates do not accumulate and the individual activities are present in equal amounts. 

The central role of the acyl carrier domain is to carry acyl groups from one catalytic site to the next. The 

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