Chapter 3

Fatty Acid Biosynthesis

Marco Brito-Arias

Abstract

The fatty acid biosynthesis, also known as lipogenesis, is a process that occurs in the cytosol and its role is the production of the fatty acid palmitate from acetyl- CoA as a starting material. In humans, the process for the de novo biosynthesis of long-chain fatty acids is assigned to the cytosolic enzyme human fatty acid synthase (FAS) responsible for the catalysis of palmitate C16 from acetylcoenzyme A and malonyl-coenzyme A in the presence of NADPH. During the elongation process, the chain is attached to the acyl carrier protein (ACP) and transported to the active site by enzymes known as malonyl-CoA transacylase (MAT or acetyl-CoA being used), β-ketoacyl synthase (KS), β-ketoacyl reductase (KR), dehydratase (DH) and β-enoyl reductase (ER) (Fig. 85).

Total Pages: 57-89 (33)

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