What are Elongases and desaturases?
What are Elongases and desaturases?
In mammalian cells, elongases and desaturases play critical roles in regulating the length and degree of unsaturation of fatty acids and thereby their functions and metabolic fates.
What does a desaturase do?
A fatty acid desaturase is an enzyme that removes two hydrogen atoms from a fatty acid, creating a carbon/carbon double bond. These desaturases are classified as: Delta – indicating that the double bond is created at a fixed position from the carboxyl end of a fatty acid chain.
What enzyme elongates fatty acids?
Fatty acid synthase utilizes acetyl CoA and malonyl CoA to elongate fatty acids by two carbons.
Does insulin cause lipogenesis?
Insulin promotes lipogenesis, thereby resulting in the storage of triglycerides in adipocytes and of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in hepatocytes. Insulin stimulates lipogenesis by activating glucose import, regulating the levels of glycerol-3-P and lipoprotein lipase (LPL).
What does an elongase enzyme do?
Elongase is a generic term for an enzyme that catalyzes carbon chain extension of an organic molecule, especially a fatty acid. Elongases play a variety of roles in mammalian organisms, accounting for changes in tissue function, lipid regulation, and the overall physiology of an organism.
What do Elongases do?
What is the role of decarboxylation in fatty acid synthesis?
Decarboxylation of the primer precursors occurs through the branched-chain α-keto acid decarboxylase (BCKA) enzyme. Elongation of the fatty acid follows the same biosynthetic pathway in Escherichia coli used to produce straight-chain fatty acids where malonyl-CoA is used as a chain extender.
What lipogenesis means?
the formation of fat
Definition of lipogenesis : the formation of fat specifically : the formation of fatty acids from acetyl coenzyme A in the living body and especially in adipose tissue and the liver.
What hormone stimulates lipogenesis?
Insulin
Insulin is probably the most important hormonal factor influencing lipogenesis.