Maternal adipose tissue is a major contributor to breast milk long-chain fatty acids, probably through the pool of plasma NEFA. The fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membrane (EM) is a biochemical index of the intake of fatty acids not synthesized endogenously and of PUFA and long-chain PUFA fatty acid status. The present study investigated the associations between breast milk fatty aci...

The rice herbicide cafenstrole and its analogs inhibited the incorporation of [1-(14)C]-oleate and (2-(14)C]-malonate into very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs), using Scenedesmus cells and leek microsomes from Allium porrum. Although the precise mode of interaction of cafenstrole at the molecular level is not completely clarified by the present study, it is concluded that cafenstrole acts as a ...

The PEX11 peroxisomal membrane proteins are the only factors known to promote peroxisome division in multiple species. It has been proposed that PEX11 proteins have a direct role in peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation, and that they only affect peroxisome abundance indirectly. Here we show that PEX11 proteins are unique in their ability to promote peroxisome division, and that PEX11 overexpression...

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection rewires host cell metabolism, up-regulating flux from glucose into acetyl-CoA to feed fatty acid metabolism, with saturated very long-chain fatty acids (VLFCA) required for production of infectious virion progeny. The human genome encodes seven elongase enzymes (ELOVL) that extend long chain fatty acids into VLCFA. Here we identify ELOVL7 as pivotal for HC...

Particulate (15,000g) fractions from developing seeds of honesty (Lunaria annua L.) and mustard (Sinapis alba L.) synthesize radioactive very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids (gadoleic, erucic, and nervonic) from [1-(14)C]oleoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA or from oleoyl-CoA and [2-(14)C]malonyl-CoA. The very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids are rapidly channeled to triacylglycerois and oth...

The de novo synthesis of fatty acids occurs in two distinct cellular compartments. Palmitate (16:0) is synthesized from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA in the cytoplasm by the enzymes acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 and fatty acid synthase. The synthesis of fatty acids longer than 16 carbons takes place in microsomes and utilizes malonyl-CoA as the carbon source. Each two-carbon addition requires four sequ...

Peroxisomes play a major role in human cellular lipid metabolism, including fatty acid β-oxidation. The most frequent peroxisomal disorder is X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, which is caused by mutations in ABCD1. The biochemical hallmark of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy is the accumulation of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) due to impaired peroxisomal β-oxidation. Although this suggests a r...

A hyper-osmotically sensitive mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, designated hos3-1 (high expression of osmotically responsive genes), was identified based on its hyper-luminescence of RD29A:LUC promoter fusion plants upon treatment with NaCl and ABA. These responses implicate the disrupted gene as a direct or indirect negative regulator of the RD29A stress-responsive pathway. By sequencing the fla...

The polyenoic fatty acids with carbon chain lengths from 26 to 38 (very-long-chain fatty acids, VLCFA) previously detected in abnormal amounts in Zellweger syndrome brain have been shown to be n-6 derivatives and therefore probably derived by chain elongation of shorter-chain n-6 fatty acids such as linoleic acid and arachidonic acid. Polyenoic VLCFA are also present in Zellweger syndrome liver...