Digesting Fatty Acids

 

In the adipocytes, the enzyme triacylglycerol lipase releases the fatty acids which are carried by albumin to tissues that need them such as the muscle.

In the muscle the fatty acids are activated by being bound to coenzyme A by the enzyme acyl CoA synthetase that catalyzes the following reaction:

acyl-CoA-synthetase-reaction.jpg  

Note that this reaction costs us two ATP equivalents and generates a pyrophosphate. The subsequent hydrolysis of the pyrophosphate renders the reaction irreversible.

At this point, the structure of the fatty acid makes a difference:

carnitine2.jpg

carnitine3.jpg

 



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