biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

and

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run c ...

, beta-oxidation is the catabolic process by which

fatty acid 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, ...

molecules are broken down in the

cytosol The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells ( intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondri ...

in prokaryotes and in the mitochondria in eukaryotes to generate acetyl-CoA, which enters the

citric acid cycle The citric acid cycle (CAC)—also known as the Krebs cycle or the TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle)—is a series of chemical reactions to release stored energy through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...

, and

NADH Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a coenzyme central to metabolism. Found in all living cells, NAD is called a dinucleotide because it consists of two nucleotides joined through their phosphate groups. One nucleotide contains an aden ...

and FADH₂, which are co-enzymes used in the electron transport chain. It is named as such because the beta carbon of the fatty acid undergoes oxidation to a

carbonyl In organic chemistry, a carbonyl group is a functional group composed of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom: C=O. It is common to several classes of organic compounds, as part of many larger functional groups. A compound containi ...

group. Beta-oxidation is primarily facilitated by the

mitochondrial trifunctional protein Mitochondrial trifunctional protein (MTP) is a protein attached to the inner mitochondrial membrane which catalyzes three out of the four steps in beta oxidation. MTP is a hetero-octamer composed of four alpha and four beta subunits: * HADHA * HA ...

, an enzyme complex associated with the

inner mitochondrial membrane The inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) is the mitochondrial membrane which separates the mitochondrial matrix from the intermembrane space. Structure The structure of the inner mitochondrial membrane is extensively folded and compartmentalized. ...

, although

very long chain fatty acid A very-long-chain fatty acid (VLCFA) is a fatty acid with 22 or more carbons. Their biosynthesis occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum. VLCFA's can represent up to a few percent of the total fatty acid content of a cell. Unlike most fatty acids, VL ...

s are oxidized in peroxisomes. The overall reaction for one cycle of beta oxidation is: :C_''n''-acyl-CoA + FAD + + + CoA → C_''n''-2-acyl-CoA + + NADH + + acetyl-CoA

Activation and membrane transport

Free fatty acids cannot penetrate any biological membrane due to their negative charge. Free fatty acids must cross the cell membrane through specific

transport proteins A transport protein (variously referred to as a transmembrane pump, transporter, escort protein, acid transport protein, cation transport protein, or anion transport protein) is a protein that serves the function of moving other materials within ...

, such as the SLC27 family fatty acid transport protein. Once in the

, the following processes bring fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix so that beta-oxidation can take place. #

Long-chain-fatty-acid—CoA ligase The long chain fatty acyl-CoA ligase (or synthetase) is an enzyme () of the ligase family that activates the oxidation of complex fatty acids. Long chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase catalyzes the formation of fatty acyl-CoA by a two-step process p ...

catalyzes the reaction between a fatty acid with ATP to give a fatty acyl adenylate, plus inorganic pyrophosphate, which then reacts with free coenzyme A to give a fatty acyl-CoA ester and

AMP #REDIRECT Amp {{Redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

. #If the fatty acyl-CoA has a long chain, then the carnitine shuttle must be utilized: ##Acyl-CoA is transferred to the hydroxyl group of carnitine by

carnitine palmitoyltransferase I Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT1) also known as carnitine acyltransferase I, CPTI, CAT1, CoA:carnitine acyl transferase (CCAT), or palmitoylCoA transferase I, is a mitochondrial enzyme responsible for the formation of acyl carnitines by c ...

, located on the cytosolic faces of the

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