ABSTRACT
Fatty acid breakdown brings about the oxidation of long-chain fatty acids with the production of energy in the form of ATP. The fatty acids are converted into their acyl coenzyme A (CoA) derivatives and then metabolized by the removal of two-carbon acetyl CoA units from the end of the acyl chain. Fatty acid breakdown occurs in the cytosol of prokaryotes, in peroxisomes in plants and in the mitochondrial matrix of all other eukaryotes. The breakdown of individual fatty acids occurs as a repeating sequence of four reactions: oxidation, hydration, oxidation and thiolysis. The rate of fatty acid degradation is controlled by the availability of free fatty acids in the blood which arise from the breakdown of triacylglycerols. The complete degradation of palmitoyl CoA requires seven rounds of degradation and hence produces 35 ATP molecules.
