Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 4 is a

glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase In enzymology, a glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase () is an enzyme that catalysis, catalyzes the chemical reaction :acyl-CoA + sn-glycerol 3-phosphate \rightleftharpoons CoA + 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate Thus, the two substrate (biochemi ...

that in humans is encoded by the GPAT4

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

GPAT4 is involved in the biosynthesis of

triglyceride A triglyceride (from '' tri-'' and '' glyceride''; also TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates ...

s. The majority of triglycerides are synthesised from

glycerol 3-phosphate ''sn''-Glycerol 3-phosphate is the organic ion with the formula HOCH2CH(OH)CH2OPO32-. It is one of two stereoisomers of the ester of dibasic phosphoric acid (HOPO32-) and glycerol. It is a component of bacterial and eukaryotic glycerophospholi ...

(G3P) via the addition of three

fatty acyl-CoA Fatty acyl-CoA esters are fatty acid derivatives formed of one fatty acid, a 3'-phospho- AMP linked to phosphorylated pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and cysteamine. Long-chain acyl-CoA esters are substrates for a number of important enzymatic r ...

substrates, which are made from

fatty acid In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an ...

s. The first of these additions is catalysed by

s (GPATs: EC 2.3.1.15), including GPAT4, yielding

lysophosphatidic acid A lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a phospholipid derivative that can act as a signaling molecule. Function LPA acts as a potent mitogen due to its activation of three high-affinity G-protein-coupled receptors called LPAR1, LPAR2, and LPAR3 (a ...

. GPAT4 has been shown to be important for

lactation Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The process ...

, with

quantitative trait locus A quantitative trait locus (QTL) is a locus (section of DNA) that correlates with variation of a quantitative trait in the phenotype of a population of organisms. QTLs are mapped by identifying which molecular markers (such as SNPs or AFLPs) ...

(QTL) for several milk production and composition traits observed at this locus in cattle.

Function

References

Further reading