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Palmitoylcarnitine, a surface‐active metabolite
Author(s) -
Goñi Félix M.,
Requero M.Asun,
Alonso Alicia
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(96)00603-5
Subject(s) - palmitoylcarnitine , metabolite , chemistry , computational biology , biology , biochemistry , mitochondrion
Palmitoylcarnitine is a well‐known intermediate in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. Less known are its properties as a surfactant, with a capacity to solubilize biological membranes similar to that of many synthetic detergents used in the biochemical laboratory. Some of the physico‐chemical properties of palmitoylcarnitine may help to explain the need for coenzyme A‐carnitine‐coenzyme A acyl exchange during mitochondrial fatty acid import. The amphiphilic character of palmitoylcarnitine may also explain its proposed involvement in the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia.