Very-long-chain 3-oxoacyl-CoA synthase (, ''very-long-chain 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase'', ''very-long-chain beta-ketoacyl-CoA synthase'', ''condensing enzyme'', ''CUT1 (gene)'', '' CERS6 (gene)'', ''FAE1 (gene)'', ''KCS (gene)'', ''ELO (gene)'') is an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

with

systematic name A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection. Systematic names are usually part of a nomenclature. A semisystematic name or semitrivial ...

''malonyl-CoA:very-long-chain acyl-CoA malonyltransferase (decarboxylating and thioester-hydrolysing)''. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction : very-long-chain acyl-CoA +

malonyl-CoA Malonyl-CoA is a coenzyme A derivative of malonic acid. Functions It plays a key role in chain elongation in fatty acid biosynthesis and polyketide biosynthesis. Fatty acid biosynthesis Malonyl-CoA provides 2-carbon units to fatty acids and commi ...

\rightleftharpoons

very-long-chain 3-oxoacyl-CoA + CO₂ +

coenzyme A Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All genomes sequenced to date encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a subs ...

This is the first component of the elongase, a

microsomal In cell biology, microsomes are heterogeneous vesicle-like artifacts (~20-200 nm diameter) re-formed from pieces of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) when eukaryotic cells are broken-up in the laboratory; microsomes are not present in healthy, liv ...

protein complex responsible for extending palmitoyl-CoA and stearoyl-CoA to very-long-chain acyl CoAs. (Very-long-chain in this context refers, for example, to the C26

fatty acids In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, f ...

involved in the synthesis of

phospholipids Phospholipids, are a class of lipids whose molecule has a hydrophilic "head" containing a phosphate group and two hydrophobic "tails" derived from fatty acids, joined by an alcohol residue (usually a glycerol molecule). Marine phospholipids typ ...

and

ceramides Ceramides are a family of waxy lipid molecules. A ceramide is composed of N-acetylsphingosine and a fatty acid. Ceramides are found in high concentrations within the cell membrane of eukaryotic cells, since they are component lipids that make up ...

References

External links

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