Thiolase

Article summary

Thiolases, are most broadly any enzyme that catalyze a reaction between a thiol (structure: R’-SH) and another compound (R-R’) to form a sulfide (R-S-R’) and a hydrogen-bound compound (R’-H). However, in medicine, the term can also refer to a more specific type of enzyme known as acetyl-coenzyme A acetyltransferases (ACAT), which convert two units of acetyl-CoA to acetoacetyl CoA in the mevalonate pathway. Thiolases are ubiquitous enzymes that have key roles in many vital biochemical pathways, including the beta oxidation pathway of fatty acid degradation and various biosynthetic pathways. Members of the thiolase family can be divided into two broad categories: degradative thiolases (EC 2.3.1.16) and biosynthetic thiolases (EC 2.3.1.9). These two different types of thiolase are found both in eukaryotes and in prokaryotes: acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase (EC:2.3.1.9) and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (EC:2.3.1.16). 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (also called thiolase I) has a broad chain-length specificity for its substrates and is involved in degradative pathways such as fatty acid beta-oxidation. Acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase (also called thiolase II) is specific for the thiolysis of acetoacetyl-CoA and involved in biosynthetic pathways such as beta-hydroxybutyric acid synthesis or steroid biogenesis.…

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