Structure of the molecular machine that links carbohydrate and lipid metabolism

(VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)) A research team led by dr. Kenneth Verstraete in the Unit for Structural Biology at the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research has unraveled the three-dimensional structure and molecular mechanism of ATP citrate lyase (ACLY). This is a central metabolic enzyme -- a protein that accelerates chemical reactions -- important for the production of fatty acids and cholesterol in the human liver. The reported findings could help targeting ACLY in cancer and metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news