scholarly journals Transacylation as a chain-termination mechanism in fatty acid synthesis by mammalian fatty acid synthetase. Synthesis of medium-chain-length (C8-C12) acyl-CoA esters by goat mammary-gland fatty acid synthetase

1982 ◽  
Vol 202 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Knudsen ◽  
I Grunnet

1. Ruminant mammary-gland fatty acid synthetases can, in contrast with non-ruminant mammary enzymes, synthesize medium-chain fatty acids. 2. Medium-chain fatty acids are only synthesized in the presence of a fatty acid-removing system such as albumin, beta-lactoglobulin or methylated cyclodextrin. 3. The short- and medium-chain fatty acids synthesized were released as acyl-CoA esters from the fatty acid synthetase.

1984 ◽  
Vol 220 (2) ◽  
pp. 513-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
H O Hansen ◽  
I Grunnet ◽  
J Knudsen

Goat mammary-gland microsomal fraction by itself induces synthesis of medium-chain-length fatty acids by goat mammary fatty acid synthetase and incorporates short- and medium-chain fatty acids into triacylglycerol. Addition of ATP in the absence or presence of Mg2+ totally inhibits triacylglycerol synthesis from short- and medium-chain fatty acids, and severely inhibits synthesis de novo of medium-chain fatty acids. The inhibition by ATP of fatty acid synthesis and triacylglycerol synthesis de novo can be relieved by glycerol 3-phosphate. The effect of ATP could not be mimicked by the non-hydrolysable ATP analogue, adenosine 5′-[beta, gamma-methylene]triphosphate and could not be shown to be caused by inhibition of the diacylglycerol acyltransferase by a phosphorylation reaction. Possible explanations for the mechanism of the inhibition by ATP are discussed, and a hypothetical model for its action is outlined.


1982 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-NP ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet M. Nolin ◽  
Betty J. Thompson ◽  
Stuart Smith

Two approaches were used to establish the intercellular distribution of fatty acid synthetase and thioesterase II in the lactating rat mammary gland. Thioesterase II is the chain-length regulatory enzyme in the biosynthesis of the medium-chain fatty acids characteristic of milk fat. Using immunohistochemical techniques, immunoreactive fatty acid synthetase was found in both mammary adipocytes and epithelial cells; in contrast, immunoreactive thioesterase II was confined to the epithelial cells. In metabolic studies, adipocytes and epithelial cells were isolated from lactating rat mammary glands after digestion with collagenase and thermolysin, and their lipogenic activity was studied using isotopically labelled acetate. Consistent with the immunohistochemical data, adipocytes synthesized exclusively long-chain fatty acids whereas epithelial cells synthesized predominantly medium-chain fatty acids. The results indicate that the capacity for synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids is a unique property of the epithelial cell component of the mammary gland.


1980 ◽  
Vol 186 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
J K Hansen ◽  
J Knudsen

1. Purified cow mammary gland fatty acid synthetase synthesized long-chain unesterified and short-chain esterified fatty acids. 2. A direct relationship was observed between the amount of short-chain products synthesized and the concentration of acetyl-CoA in the incubation medium. 3. The short-chain products were identified as butyryl-CoA and hexanoyl-CoA. 4. Inhibition of the terminating thioester hydrolase of the fatty acid synthetase complex with phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride did not inhibit the synthesis of short-chain products. 5. It is suggested that the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids involves the reverse of the ‘loading’ reaction.


1983 ◽  
Vol 212 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Smith ◽  
D Pasco ◽  
S Nandi

Epithelial cells were isolated from the undifferentiated mammary glands of mature virgin female rats, and their lipogenic characteristics were studied. These cells synthesized predominantly medium-chain fatty acids, albeit at a low rate. In contrast, whole tissue from mammary glands of virgin rats synthesized predominantly long-chain fatty acids at a relatively higher rate, indicating that the lipogenic activity is dominated by the adipocyte component of the gland. Enzyme assays revealed that thioesterase II, the enzyme which regulates production of medium-chain fatty acids by the fatty acid synthetase, was present at a high activity in the undifferentiated mammary epithelial cells of virgin rats. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed this observation and showed that the regulatory enzyme was present exclusively in the epithelial cells lining the alveolar and ductal elements of the undifferentiated gland. This study demonstrates that the potential to elaborate tissue-specific medium-chain fatty acids is already expressed in the undifferentiated tissue of virgin rats and is not acquired as a result of the differentiation associated with the lactogenic phase of development. In this species mammary epithelial cells apparently synthesize predominantly medium-chain fatty acids at all stages of development, and only the overall rate of synthesis is increased on induction of the fatty acid synthetase during lactogenesis.


1972 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 929-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel A. Forsyth ◽  
Christopher R. Strong ◽  
Raymond Dils

1. The rate of fatty acid synthesis by mammary explants from rabbits pregnant for 16 days or from rabbits pseudopregnant for 11 days was stimulated up to 15-fold by culturing for 2–4 days with prolactin. This treatment initiated the predominant synthesis of C8:0 and C10:0 fatty acids, which are characteristic of rabbit milk. 2. Inclusion of insulin in the culture medium increased the rate of synthesis of these medium-chain fatty acids. By contrast the inclusion of corticosterone led to the predominant synthesis of long-chain fatty acids. When explants were cultured for 2–4 days with insulin, corticosterone and prolactin, the rate of fatty acid synthesis increased up to 42-fold, but both medium- and long-chain fatty acids were synthesized. 3. These results show that the stimulus to mammary-gland lipogenesis and the initiation of synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids observed between days 16 and 23 of pregnancy in the rabbit can be simulated in vitro by prolactin alone. 4. When mammary explants from rabbits pregnant for 23 days were cultured for 2 days with insulin, corticosterone and prolactin, the rate of fatty acid synthesis increased fivefold, but there was a preferential synthesis of long-chain fatty acids. Culture with prolactin alone had little effect on the rate or pattern of fatty acids synthesized. 5. The results are compared with findings in vivo on the control of lipogenesis in the rabbit mammary gland, and are contrasted with the known effects of hormones in vitro on the mammary gland of the mid-pregnant mouse.


1979 ◽  
Vol 181 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Knudsen

The concentration of medium-chain acyl thioester hydrolase and of fatty acid synthetase was determined by rocket immunoelectrophoresis in nine different particle-free supernatant fractions from lactating-rabbit mammary gland. The molar ratio of the hydrolase to fatty acid synthetase was 1.99 +/- 0.66 (mean +/- S.D.). A rate-limiting concentration of malonyl-CoA was required to ensure the predominant synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids when 2 mol of the hydrolase was added per mol of fatty acid synthetase. The interaction of the hydrolase with fatty acid synthetase was concentration-dependent, though an optimum concentration of hydrolase to synthetase could not be obtained. The lactating-rabbit mammary gland hydrolase altered the pattern of fatty acids synthesized by fatty acid synthetases prepared from cow, goat, sheep and rabbit lactating mammary glands, rabbit liver and cow adipose tissue.


1987 ◽  
Vol 241 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
I B Mogensen ◽  
H Schulenberg ◽  
H O Hansen ◽  
F Spener ◽  
J Knudsen

Bovine liver was shown to contain a hitherto undescribed medium-chain acyl-CoA-binding protein. The protein co-purifies with fatty-acid-binding proteins, but was, unlike these proteins, unable to bind fatty acids. The protein induced synthesis of medium-chain acyl-CoA esters on incubation with goat mammary-gland fatty acid synthetase. The possible function of the protein is discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 2297-2303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Cristina da Silva-Kazama ◽  
Geraldo Tadeu dos Santos ◽  
Paula Toshimi Matumoto Pintro ◽  
Jesuí Vergílio Visentainer ◽  
Ricardo Kazama ◽  
...  

Eight Holstein cows with body weight 570 ± 43 kg and 60 ± 20 lactation days were distributed in a double Latin square design with four 21-day periods to determine the effects of feeding ground or whole flaxseed with or without monensin supplementation (0.02% on a dry matter basis) on fatty acid profile of butter stored for 15 and 45 days. Ground flaxseed supply, in comparison to whole flaxseed, reduced relative percentages of 16:0, cis7-16:1, 17:0, and cis10-17:1 but it increased those of cis9,trans11-18:2, cis3-18:3, and omega 3 fatty acids in butter fat, reducing relative percentage of medium-chain fatty acids and increasing the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Supplementation with monensin increased relative percentages of cis9,trans11-18:2 and tended to increase relative percentage of 17:0 and decrease that of saturated fatty acids in butter. Butter from cows fed diet with monensin presented lower relative percentages of cis 6-20:4. Relative percentages of cis 9-16:1, cis10-17:1, 18:0, trans11-18:1, cis9-18:1, cis3-18:3, cis6-20:4 in butter stored for 15 days were higher than those stored for 45 days and the relative percentages of cis3-20:5 tended to decrease with the increase of storage period. As a result, relative percentages of saturated fatty acids and medium-chain fatty acids increased with storage time, while those of monounsaturated and long-chain fatty acids decreased. Butter enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids may have a shorter shelf life due to the negative effect of storage on fatty acid profile which may cause oxidation and rancidity.


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