Academic Editor: Ananda Ayyappan Jaguva Vasudevan
Fatty acids (FAs) are critical nutrients that regulate an organism’s health and
development in mammal. Long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) can be divided into
saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, depending on whether the carbon chain
contains at least 1 double bond. The fatty acids that are required for humans and
animals are obtained primarily from dietary sources, and LCFAs are absorbed from
outside of cells in mammals. LCFAs enter cells through several mechanisms,
including passive diffusion and protein-mediated translocation across the plasma
membrane, the latter in which FA translocase (FAT/CD36), plasma membrane
FA-binding protein (FABPpm), FA transport
protein (FATP), and caveolin-1 are believed to have important functions. The
LCFAs that are taken up by cells bind to FA-binding proteins (FABPs) and are
transported to the specific organelles, where they are activated into acyl-CoA to
target specific metabolic pathways. LCFA-CoAs can be esterified to phospholipids,
triacylglycerol, cholesteryl ester, and other specialized lipids. Non-esterified
free fatty acids are preferentially stored as triacylglycerol molecules. The main
pathway by which fatty acids are catabolized is