Fatty Acid Oxidation: How Living Organisms Produce Energy from Fatty Acids through Beta-Oxidation

Describe fatty acid oxidation

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Fatty acid oxidation, also known as beta-oxidation, is the process by which fatty acids are broken down in living organisms to produce energy. This process occurs mainly in the mitochondria of cells and involves a series of enzymatic reactions that sequentially remove two-carbon acetyl-CoA molecules from the fatty acid chain.

The process of fatty acid oxidation begins with the activation of the fatty acid by attachment to CoA, which results in the formation of fatty acyl-CoA. This process is catalyzed by the enzyme acyl-CoA synthase. The fatty acyl-CoA molecule is then transported across the mitochondrial membrane into the mitochondrial matrix, where the process of beta-oxidation occurs.

The first step of beta-oxidation involves the removal of two hydrogen atoms from the alpha-carbon of the fatty acid chain, which results in the formation of a double bond between the alpha- and beta-carbon atoms. This process is catalyzed by the enzyme acyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

The second step is the hydration of the double bond by the enzyme enoyl-CoA hydratase, which results in the formation of a hydroxyl group on the beta-carbon atom.

The third step is the removal of the hydroxyl group by the enzyme 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, which results in the formation of a keto group on the beta-carbon atom.

The fourth and final step is the cleavage of the beta-keto group by the enzyme beta-ketothiolase, which results in the release of a two-carbon acetyl-CoA molecule and a shortened fatty acid chain. This process is repeated until the entire fatty acid chain has been broken down into acetyl-CoA molecules, which can be further oxidized in the citric acid cycle to produce ATP, the energy currency of living organisms.

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