Ketoacyl

Perfluoroalkylcopper reagents react with thiocyanates to give perfluoro-alkyl-substituted sulfides in low yields [230] and with benzoylformyl chloride to give the oi-diketone in 49% yield [231] However, other a-ketoacyl halides were prepared in less than 5% yield [231]... 

The third reaction of this cycle is the oxidation of the hydroxyl group at the /3-position to produce a /3-ketoacyl-CoA derivative. This second oxidation reaction is catalyzed by L-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, an enzyme that requires NAD as a coenzyme. NADH produced in this reaction represents metabolic energy. Each NADH produced in mitochondria by this reaction drives the synthesis of 2.5 molecules of ATP in the electron transport pathway. L-Hydroxyacyl-... 

FIGURE 25.7 The pathway of palmhate synthesis from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA. Acetyl and malonyl building blocks are introduced as acyl carrier protein conjugates. Decarboxylation drives the /3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase and results in the addition of two-carbon units to the growing chain. Concentrations of free fatty acids are extremely low in most cells, and newly synthesized fatty acids exist primarily as acyl-CoA esters. 

FIGURE 25.12 Elongation of fatty acids in mitochondria is initiated by the thiolase reaction. The /3-ketoacyl intermediate thus formed undergoes the same three reactions (in reverse order) that are the basis of /3-oxidation of fatty acids. Reduction of the /3-keto group is followed by dehydration to form a double bond. Reduction of the double bond yields a fatty acyl-CoA that is elongated by two carbons. Note that the reducing coenzyme for the second step is NADH, whereas the reductant for the fourth step is NADPH. 

Consider the role of the pantothenic acid groups in animal fatty acyl synthase and the size of the pantothenic acid group itself, and estimate a maximal separation between the malonyl transferase and the ketoacyl-ACP synthase active sites. 

Step 3 of Figure 29.3 Alcohol Oxidation The /3-hydroxyacyl CoA from step 2 is oxidized to a /3-ketoacyl CoA in a reaction catalyzed by one of a family of L-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenases, which differ in substrate specificity according to the chain length of the acyl group. As in the oxidation of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate to dihydroxyacetone phosphate mentioned at the end of Section 29.2, this alcohol oxidation requires NAD+ as a coenzyme and yields reduced NADH/H+ as by-product. Deprotonation of the hydroxyl group is carried out by a histidine residue at the active site. 

Step 4 of Figure 29.3 Chain Cleavage Acetyl CoA is split off from the chain in the final step of /3-oxidation, leaving an acyl CoA that is two carbon atoms shorter than the original. The reaction is catalyzed by /3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase and is mechanistically the reverse of a Claisen condensation reaction (Section 23.7). In the forward direction, a Claisen condensation joins two esters together to form a /3-keto ester product. In the reverse direction, a retro-Claisen reaction splits a /3-keto ester (or /3-keto thioester) apart to form two esters (or two thioesters). 

The retro-Claisen reaction occurs by initial nucleophilic addition of a cysteine -SH group on the enzyme to the keto group of the /3-ketoacyl CoA to yield an alkoxide ion intermediate. Cleavage of the C2-C3 bond then follows, with expulsion of an acetyl CoA enolate ion. Protonation of the enolate ion gives acetyl CoA, and the enzyme-bound acyl group undergoes nucleophilic acyl substitution by reaction with a molecule of coenzyme A. The chain-shortened acyl CoA that results then enters another round of tire /3-oxidation pathway for further degradation. 

Uchicda, Y., Izai, K., Orii, T., Hashimoto, T. (1992). Novel fatty acid p-oxidation enzymes in rat liver mitochondria. II. Purification and properties of enoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) hydratase/3-hy-droxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase/3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase trifunctional protein. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 1034-1041. 

Figure 21-2. Fatty acid synthase multienzyme complex. The complex is a dimer of two identical polypeptide monomers, 1 and 2, each consisting of seven enzyme activities and the acyl carrier protein (ACP). (Cys— SH, cysteine thiol.) The— SH of the 4 -phosphopantetheine of one monomer is in close proximity to the— SH of the cysteine residue of the ketoacyl synthase of the other monomer, suggesting a "head-to-tail" arrangement of the two monomers. Though each monomer contains all the partial activities of the reaction sequence, the actual functional unit consists of one-half of one monomer interacting with the complementary half of the other. Thus, two acyl chains are produced simultaneously. The sequence of the enzymes in each monomer is based on Wakil.

Inherited defects in the enzymes of (3-oxidation and ketogenesis also lead to nonketotic hypoglycemia, coma, and fatty hver. Defects are known in long- and short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (deficiency of the long-chain enzyme may be a cause of acute fetty liver of pr nancy). 3-Ketoacyl-CoA thiolase and HMG-CoA lyase deficiency also affect the degradation of leucine, a ketogenic amino acid (Chapter 30). 

Entries 4 and 5 are cases in which the oxazolidinone substituent is a 3-ketoacyl group. The a-hydrogen (between the carbonyls) does not react as rapidly as the y-hydrogen, evidently owing to steric restrictions to optimal alignment. The all -syn stereochemistry is consistent with a TS in which the exocyclic carbonyl is chelated to titanium. 

The reaction is catalyzed by the third synthetase enzyme-3-ketoacyl synthetase. An acetoacetyl, which is bound to synthetase, is formed at this stage. 

The reaction is catalyzed by the fourth synthetase enzyme- P-ketoacyl reductase, to yield intermediary hydroxybutyryl. 

The 3-ketothiolase has been purified and investigated from several poly(3HB)-synthesizing bacteria including Azotobacter beijerinckii [10], Ral-stonia eutropha [11], Zoogloea ramigera [12], Rhodococcus ruber [13], and Methylobacterium rhodesianum [14]. In R. eutropha the 3-ketothiolase occurs in two different forms, called A and B, which have different substrate specificities [11,15]. In the thiolytic reaction, enzyme A is only active with C4 and C5 3-ketoacyl-CoA whereas the substrate spectrum of enzyme B is much broader, since it is active with C4 to C10 substrates [11]. Enzyme A seems to be the main biosynthetic enzyme acting in the poly(3HB) synthesis pathway, while enzyme B should rather have a catabolic function in fatty-acid metabolism. However, in vitro studies with reconstituted purified enzyme systems have demonstrated that enzyme B can also contribute to poly(3HB) synthesis [15]. 

In studies of R. ruber, only one active enzyme has been found, although the possibility that a second unstable enzyme exists has not been excluded. Its activity was greatest with acetoacetyl-CoA, and two-thirds lower with 3-keto-valeryl-CoA. Activity was also found with C6 to C8 3-ketoacyl-CoAs [13]. 

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