Cytosolic acyl coenzyme A thioester hydrolase is an

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

that in

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

s is encoded by the ''ACOT7''

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

. This gene encodes a member of the

acyl In chemistry, an acyl group is a moiety derived by the removal of one or more hydroxyl groups from an oxoacid, including inorganic acids. It contains a double-bonded oxygen atom and an organyl group () or hydrogen in the case of formyl grou ...

coenzyme A cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound or Metal ions in aqueous solution, metallic ion that is required for an enzyme's role as a catalysis, catalyst (a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction). Cofactors can ...

family. The encoded protein

hydrolyze Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysis ...

s the CoA

thioester In organic chemistry, thioesters are organosulfur compounds with the molecular structure . They are analogous to carboxylate esters () with the sulfur in the thioester replacing oxygen in the carboxylate ester, as implied by the thio- prefix ...

palmitoyl-CoA Palmitoyl-CoA is an acyl-CoA thioester. It is an "activated" form of palmitic acid and can be transported into the mitochondrial matrix by the carnitine shuttle system (which transports fatty acyl-CoA molecules into the mitochondria), and once in ...

and other long-chain

fatty acids In chemistry, in particular 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, ...

. Decreased expression of this gene may be associated with

mesial temporal lobe epilepsy In the field of neurology, temporal lobe epilepsy is an enduring neurological disorder, brain disorder that causes Seizure#Causes, unprovoked seizures from the temporal lobe. Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common type of focal seizure, focal ...

. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct

isoform A protein isoform, or "protein variant", is a member of a set of highly similar proteins that originate from a single gene and are the result of genetic differences. While many perform the same or similar biological roles, some isoforms have uniqu ...

s with different

subcellular The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word meaning ...

locations have been characterized.

References

External links

Further reading