Lipid coenzyme specificity

Thiolester hydrolases (EC 3.1.2) play an important role in the biochemistry of lipids. They catalyze the hydrolysis of acyl-coenzyme A thiolesters of various chain lengths to free fatty acids and coenzyme A. The current list of over 20 specific enzymes includes acetyl-CoA hydrolase (EC 3.1.2.1), pal-mi toy 1-Co A hydrolase (EC 3.1.2.2), and an acyl-CoA hydrolase (EC 3.1.2.20) of broad specificity for medium- to long-chain acyl-CoA [128],... 

Thiamine, biotin and pyridoxine (vitamin B) coenzymes are grouped together because they catalyze similar phenomena, i.e., the removal of a carboxyl group, COOH, from a metabolite. However, each requires different specific circumstances. Thiamine coenzyme decarboxylates only alpha-keto acids, is frequently accompanied by dehydrogenation, and is mainly associated with carbohydrate metabolism. Biotin enzymes do not require the alpha-keto configuration, are readily reversible, and are concerned primarily with lipid metabolism. Pyridoxine coenzymes perform nonoxidative decarboxylation and are closely allied with amino acid metabolism. 

The ultimate precursor of all the carbon atoms in cholesterol and in the other steroids that are derived from cholesterol is the acetyl group of acetyl-GoA. There are many steps in the biosynthesis of steroids. The condensation of three acetyl groups produces mevalonate, which contains six carbons. Decarboxylation of mevalonate produces the five-carbon isoprene unit frequently encountered in the structure of lipids. The involvement of isoprene imits is a key point in the biosynthesis of steroids and of many other compounds that have the generic name terpenes. Vitamins A, E, and K come from reactions involving terpenes that humans cannot carry out. That is why we must consume these vitamins in our diets vitamin D, the remaining lipid-soluble vitamin, is derived from cholesterol (Section 8.8). Isoprene units are involved in the biosynthesis of ubiquinone (coenzyme Q) and of derivatives of proteins and tRNA with specific five-carbon units attached. Isoprene units are often added to proteins to act as anchors when the protein is attached to a membrane. 

Little is to be gained by listing further instances in which these various compounds can be interchanged because the interactions between vitamin E, coenzyme Q, and selenium are still unknown [130-135]. There are two major theories the first proposes that all these compounds function in metabolism as antioxidants, protecting, for example, the integrity of the lipid membrane the second holds that these compounds react with certain apoenzymes in specific but still unknown metabolic reactions. 

Erwin and Bloch (1963a) consider that in protists, as in higher animals and plants, fatty acids combined in lipids can serve as an energy reserve, as stractural components of cells, and as coenzymes in essential biochemical reactions and that specific chemical stmctures are probably required for this last function. a-Linolenic add has been implicated by Bloch and his colleagues as a component of the oxygen-... 

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