Acyl-coenzyme A synthetase short-chain family member 2 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 ''ACSS2''

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 ...

Function

This gene encodes a

cytosolic 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 ...

that catalyzes the activation of

acetate An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic, or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called ...

for use in lipid synthesis and

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

generation. The protein acts as a

monomer A monomer ( ; ''mono-'', "one" + '' -mer'', "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or two- or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization. Classification Chemis ...

and produces

acetyl In organic chemistry, an acetyl group is a functional group denoted by the chemical formula and the structure . It is sometimes represented by the symbol Ac (not to be confused with the element actinium). In IUPAC nomenclature, an acetyl grou ...

- CoA from acetate in a reaction that requires ATP. It is also essential for the production of Crotonyl-CoA which activates its target genes by crotonylation of histone tails. Expression of this gene is regulated by

sterol A sterol is any organic compound with a Skeletal formula, skeleton closely related to Cholestanol, cholestan-3-ol. The simplest sterol is gonan-3-ol, which has a formula of , and is derived from that of gonane by replacement of a hydrogen atom on ...

regulatory element-binding proteins, transcription factors that activate genes required for the synthesis of

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

and unsaturated

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, ...

. Two transcript variants encoding different

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 have been found for this gene. Metabolic production of acetyl-CoA is linked to histone acetylation and gene regulation. In mouse neurons, Mews ''et al''. identified a major role for the ACSS2 pathway to regulate histone acetylation and neuronal gene expression. Histone acetylation in mature neurons is associated strongly with memory formation. Chromatin becomes acetylated in specific regions of the brain, such as the hippocampus, in response to neuronal activity or behavioral training in rodent. Such acetylation correlates with the increased expression of a set of 'immediate early' genes, which encode proteins that broadly mediate changes in the strength of connections between neurons, therefore facilitating memory consolidation. In the mouse hippocampus, ACSS2 binds directly to immediate early genes to 'fuel' local histone acetylation and, in turn, their induction for long-term spatial memory.

References

11. Sabari BR, Tang Z, Huang H, Yong-Gonzalez V, Molina H, Kong HE, Dai L, Shimada M, Cross JR, Zhao Y, Roeder RG, Allis CD(2015). Intracellular crotonyl-CoA stimulates transcription through p300-catalyzed histone crotonylation. Mol Cell. 58(2):203-15

Function

References

External links

Further reading