Enzyme promiscuity drives branched-chain fatty acid synthesis in adipose tissues
UMass Chan Affiliations
Program in Molecular MedicineDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2018-11-01Keywords
BiochemistryCellular and Molecular Physiology
Endocrinology
Enzymes and Coenzymes
Lipids
Molecular Biology
Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms
Tissues
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Fatty acid synthase (FASN) predominantly generates straight-chain fatty acids using acetyl-CoA as the initiating substrate. However, monomethyl branched-chain fatty acids (mmBCFAs) are also present in mammals but are thought to be primarily diet derived. Here we demonstrate that mmBCFAs are de novo synthesized via mitochondrial BCAA catabolism, exported to the cytosol by adipose-specific expression of carnitine acetyltransferase (CrAT), and elongated by FASN. Brown fat exhibits the highest BCAA catabolic and mmBCFA synthesis fluxes, whereas these lipids are largely absent from liver and brain. mmBCFA synthesis is also sustained in the absence of microbiota. We identify hypoxia as a potent suppressor of BCAA catabolism that decreases mmBCFA synthesis in obese adipose tissue, such that mmBCFAs are significantly decreased in obese animals. These results identify adipose tissue mmBCFA synthesis as a novel link between BCAA metabolism and lipogenesis, highlighting roles for CrAT and FASN promiscuity influencing acyl-chain diversity in the lipidome.Source
Nat Chem Biol. 2018 Nov;14(11):1021-1031. doi: 10.1038/s41589-018-0132-2. Epub 2018 Oct 16. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1038/s41589-018-0132-2Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/40818PubMed ID
30327559Notes
Full author list omitted for brevity. For the full list of authors, see article.
Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/s41589-018-0132-2