Sources of Carbon and Reducing Equivalents for Fatty Acid Synthesis

Sources of Carbon and Reducing Equivalents for Fatty Acid Synthesis 

The basic starting substrate for fatty acid synthesis is acetyl-CoA (see below). In ruminants, the provision of this substrate is straightfoward. Acetate from blood (+ CoA + ATP) is converted by the cytosolic acetyl-CoA synthase (EC 2.3.1.169) to AMP and acetyl-CoA, which can then be used for fatty acid synthesis. In non-ruminants, glucose is converted via the glycolytic pathway to pyruvate, which is, in turn, converted to acetyl-CoA in mitochondria. Acetyl-CoA thus formed is converted to citrate which passes out to the cytosol where it is cleaved by ATP-citrate lyase (EC 2.3.3.8) to acetyl-CoA + oxalacetate (OAA). This transport of acetyl-CoA from 

OAA by pyruvate carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.1), thereby completing the net transport of the C2 unit (acetate) from the mitochondrion to the cytosol with the added advantage of having converted a reducing equivalent as NADH + H+ to NADPH + H+. This mechanism of C2 transport provides up to 50% of the NADPH + H+ for fatty acid synthesis in nonruminants. 

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