Fatty acid
In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually not found in organisms, but instead as three main classes of esters: triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesterol esters. In any of these forms, fatty acids are both important dietary sources of fuel for animals and they are important structural components for cells.
Lipid metabolism
In the cytosol of the cell (for example a muscle cell), the glycerol will be converted to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, which is an intermediate in the glycolysis, to get further oxidized and produce energy. However, the main steps of fatty acids catabolism occur in the mitochondria. Long chain fatty acids (more than 14 carbon) need to be converted to Fatty acyl-CoA in order to pass across the mitochondria membrane. Fatty acid catabolism begins in the cytoplasm of cells as Acyl-CoA synthetase uses the energy from cleavage of an ATP to catalyze the addition of Coenzyme A to the fatty acid. The resulting Acyl-CoA cross the mitochondria membrane and enter the process of beta oxidation. The main products of the beta oxidation pathway are Acetyl-CoA (which is used in the Citric acid cycle to produce energy), NADH and FADH. The process of beta oxidation requires the following enzymes: Acyl CoA dehydrogenase, Enoyl-CoA hydratase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase. The diagram to the left shows how fatty acids are converted into Acetyl-coA. The overall net reaction, using palmitoyl CoA (16:0) as a model substrate is: