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The Role of Carnitine and Carnitine Acyltransferase in Biological Acetylations and Fatty Acid Synthesis

From the ¹ From the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27706

The effect of (-)-carnitine on the conversion of citrate-1-¹⁴C and pyruvate-2-¹⁴C to ¹⁴CO₂ and either ¹⁴C-fatty acids or ¹⁴C-acetylsulfanilamide was studied in pigeon liver homogenates. Carnitine stimulated the conversion of pyruvate-2-¹⁴C to fatty acids and acetylsulfanilamide, but had no effect on citrate. In the fasted state both fatty acid synthesis and citrate cleavage enzyme activity were decreased, whereas the conversion of pyruvate-2-¹⁴C to ¹⁴C-acetylsulfanilamide and carnitine acyltransferase activity were increased. (+)-Carnitine, a competitive inhibitor of carnitine acyltransferase, decreased the conversion of pyruvate-2-¹⁴C to ¹⁴C-acetylsulfanilamide. It was concluded from calculations of ¹⁴CO₂ and ¹⁴C-fatty acids derived from citrate-1-¹⁴C and pyruvate-2-¹⁴C that the major pathway of supply of acetyl groups to the extramitochondrial portion of the cell is an indirect one via citrate and the citrate cleavage enzyme, but that a direct pathway via carnitine acyltransferase does exist. A role of carnitine acyltransferase in biological acetylations is discussed.

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