Lipid metabolism

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Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the break down or storage of fats for energy. These fats are obtained from consuming food and absorbing them or they are synthesized by an animal's liver. Lipogenesis is the process of synthesizing these fats. The majority of lipids found in the human body from ingesting food are triglycerides and cholesterol. Other types of lipids found in the body are fatty acids and membrane Lipids. Lipid metabolism is often considered the digestion and absorption process of dietary fat; however, there are two ways organisms can use fats to obtain energy: consumed dietary fats and storage fat. Vertebrates and humans use both methods of fat usage as their sources of energy for organs such as the heart to function. Since lipids are hydrophobic molecules, they need to be solubilized before their metabolism begin. Lipid metabolism often begins with hydrolysis, which occurs with the help of various enzymes in the digestive system. Lipid metabolism does exist in plants, though the processes differ in some ways when compared to animals. The second step after the hydrolysis is the absorption of the fatty acids into the epithelial cells of the intestinal wall. In the epithelial cells, fatty acids are packaged and transported to the rest of the body.

Video Lipid metabolism

Lipid Digestion

Digestion is the first step to lipid metabolism, and it is the process of breaking the triglycerides down into smaller monoglyceride units with the help of lipase enzymes. Digestion of fats begin in the mouth through chemical digestion by lingual lipase. Ingested cholesterol is not broken down by the lipases and stays intact until it enters the epithelium cells of small intestine. Lipids then continue to the stomach where chemical digestion continues by gastric lipase and mechanical digestion begins (Peristalsis). The majority of lipid digestion and absorption, however, occurs once the fats reach the small intestines. Chemicals from the pancreas (pancreatic lipase family and Bile salt-dependent lipase) are secreted into to the small intestines to help breakdown the triglycerides, along with further mechanical digestion, until they are individual fatty acid units able to be absorbed into the small intestine's epithelial cells. It is the pancreatic lipase that is responsible for signaling for the hydrolysis of the triglycerides into separate free fatty acids and glycerol units.

Maps Lipid metabolism

Lipid absorption

The second step in lipid metabolism is the absorption of fats. Absorption of fats occurs only in the small intestines. Once the triglycerides are broken down into individual fatty acids an glycerols, along with cholesterol, they will aggregate intro structures called micelles to enter the epithelial cells. In the cytosol of epithelial cells, fatty acids are converted back to triglycerides. In the cytosol of epithelial cells, triglycerides and cholesterol are packaged into bigger particles called chilomicrons which are amphipathic structures that transport digested lipids. Chilomicrons will travel through the blood stream to enter adipose and other tissues in the body.

MicroRNA Control of High-Density Lipoprotein Metabolism and ...

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Transporting lipids

Due to the hydrophobic nature of membrane lipids, triglycerides and cholesterols, they require special transport proteins known as lipoproteins. The amphipathic structure of lipoproteins allows the tryglycerols and cholesterol to be transported through the blood. Chilomicrons are one sub-group of lipoproteins which carry the digested lipids from small intestine to the rest of the body. The varying densities between the types of lipoproteins are characteristic to what type of fats they transport. For example, Very-Low-Density-Lipoproteins (VLDL) carry the synthesized triglycerides by our body and Low-Density-Lipoprotein (LDL) transport cholesterol to our peripheral tissues. A number of these lipoproteins are synthesized in the liver, but not all of them originate from this organ.

Orally Administered Berberine Modulates Hepatic Lipid Metabolism ...

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Lipid Catabolism

Once the chilomicrons (or other lipoproteins) travel through the tissues, these particles will be broken down by lipoprotein lipase in the luminal surface of endothelial cells in capillaries to release tryglycerides. Tryglycerides will get broken down into fatty acids and glycerol before entering cells and remaining cholesterol will again travel through the blood to the liver.

In the cytosol of the cell (for example a muscle cell), the glycerol will be converted to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, which is an intermediate in the glycolysis, to get further oxidized and produce energy. However, the main steps of fatty acids catabolism occur in the mitochondria. Long chain fatty acids (more than 14 carbon) need to be converted to Fatty acyl-CoA in order to pass across the mitochondria membrane. Fatty acid catabolism begins in the cytoplasm of cells as Acyl-CoA synthetase uses the energy from cleavage of an ATP to catalyze the addition of Coenzyme A to the fatty acid. The resulting Acyl-CoA cross the mitochondria membrane and enter the process of beta oxidation. The main products of the beta oxidation pathway are Acetyl-CoA (which is used in the Citric acid cycle to produce energy), NADH and FADH. The process of beta oxidation requires the following enzymes: Acyl CoA dehydrogenase, Enoyl-CoA hydratase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase. The diagram to the left shows how fatty acids are converted into Acetyl-coA. The overall net reaction, using palmitoyl CoA (16:0) as a model substrate is:

7 FAD + 7 NAD⁺ + 7 CoASH + 7 H₂O + H(CH₂CH₂)₇CH₂CO-SCoA -> 8 CH₃CO-SCoA + 7 FADH₂ + 7 NADH + 7 H⁺

Fatty acid metabolism: target for metabolic syndrome

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Lipid biosynthesis

In addition to dietary fats, storage lipids stored in the adipose tissues are one of the main sources of energy for living organisms. Triacylglycerols, lipd membrane and cholesterol can be synthesized by the organisms through various pathways.

Membrane Lipid Biosynthesis

There are two major classes of membrane lipids: glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Although many different membrane lipids are synthesized in our body, pathways share the same pattern. The first step is synthesizing the backbone (sphingosine or glycerol), the second step is addition of fatty acids to the back bone to make phosphatidic acid. Phosphatidic acid is further modified with the attachment of different hydrophilic head groups to the back bone. Membrane lipid biosynthesis occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.

Tryglyceride Biosynthesis

The phosphatidic acid is also a precursor for tryglyceride biosynthesis. Phosphatidic acid phosphotase catalyzes the conversion of phosphatidic acid to diacylglyceride, which will be converted to tryacilglyeride by acyltransferase. Tryglyceride biosynthesis occurs in the cytosol.

Fatty Acid Biosynthesis

The precursor for fatty acids is acetyl coA and it occurs in the cytosol of the cell. The overall net reaction, using palmitate (16:0) as a model substrate is:

8 Acetyl-coA + 7 ATP + 14 NADH + 6H+ -> palmitate + 14 NADP+ + 6H2O + 7ADP + 7P¡

Cholesterol Biosynthesis

Cholesterol can be made from acetyl-CoA through a multiple-step pathway known as Isoprenoid Pathway. Cholesterols are essential because they can be modified to form different hormones in the body such as progesteron 70% of Choleserol biosynthesis occurs in the cytosol of liver cells.

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Lipid metabolism disorders

Lipid Metabolism Disorders are illnesses where trouble occurs in breaking down or synthesizing fats (or fat-like substances). Lipid metabolism disorders are associated with an increase in the concentrations of plasma lipids in the blood such as LDL cholesterol, VLDL, and triglycerides which most commonly lead to cardiovascular diseases. A good deal of the time these disorders are hereditary, meaning it's a condition that is passed along from parent to child through their genes. Gaucher's Disease (Type I, Type II, and Type III), Neimann-Pick Disease, Tay-Sachs Disease, and Fabry's Disease are all diseases where those afflicted can have a disorder of their body's lipid metabolism. Rarer diseases concerning a disorder of the lipid metabolism are Sitosterolemia, Wolman's Disease, Refsum's Disease, and Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis.

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Types of lipids

The types of lipids involved in Lipid Metabolism include:

Membrane lipids:

Phospholipids: Phospholipids are major component of lipid bilayer of cell membrane and are found in many parts of the body.
Sphingolipids: Sphingolipids are mostly found in the cell membrane of neural tissue.
Glycolipids: The main role of glycolipids is to maintain lipid bilayer stability and facilitate cell recognition.
Glycerophospholipids: Neural tissue (including the brain) contains high amounts of glycerophospholipids.

Other types of lipids are:

Cholesterols: Cholesterols are main precursors for different hormones in our body such as progesterone and testosterone. The main function of cholesterol itself is controlling the cell membrane fluidity.
Steroid - see also steroidogenesis: Steroids are one of the important cell signalling molecules.
Triacylglycerols (fats) - see also lipolysis and lipogenesis: Triacylglycerides are the major form of energy storage in human body.
Fatty acids - see also fatty acid metabolism: Fatty acids are one of the precursors used for lipid membrane and cholesterol biosynthesis. They are also used for energy.
Bile salts: Bile salts are secreted from pancreas and they facilitate lipid digestion in the small intestine.
Eicosanoids: Eicosanoids are made from fatty acids in the body and they are used for cell signaling.
Ketone bodies: Ketone bodies are made from fatty acids in the liver. Their function is to produce energy during periods of starvation or low food intake.