Identification of an alternative triglyceride biosynthesis pathway.

ABSTRACT: Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the main source of stored energy in the body, providing an important substrate pool for mitochondrial beta-oxidation. Imbalances in the amount of TAGs are associated with obesity, cardiac disease and various other pathologies^1,2. In humans, TAGs are synthesized from excess, coenzyme A-conjugated fatty acids by diacylglycerol O-acyltransferases (DGAT1 and DGAT2)³. In other organisms, this activity is complemented by additional enzymes⁴, but whether such alternative pathways exist in humans remains unknown. Here we disrupt the DGAT pathway in haploid human cells and use iterative genetics to reveal an unrelated TAG-synthesizing system composed of a protein we called DIESL (also known as TMEM68, an acyltransferase of previously unkn

SUBMITTER: McLelland GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10482677 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature