Fatty Acid Synthase: Structure, Function, and Regulation

Fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis plays a central role in the metabolism ofliving cells as building blocks of biological membranes, energy reserves of the cell,and precursors to second messenger molecules. In keeping with its central metabolicrole, FA biosynthesis impacts several cellular functions and its misfunction is linkedto disease, such as cancer, obesity, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Cellular FAbiosynthesis is conducted by fatty acid synthases (FAS). All FAS enzymes catalyzesimilar biosynthetic reactions, but the functional architectures adopted by thesecellular catalysts can differ substantially. This variability in FAS structure amongstvarious organisms and the essential role played by FA biosynthetic pathways makesthis metabolic route a valuable target for the development of antibiotics. Beyondcellular FA biosynthesis, the quest for renewable energy sources has piqued interestin FA biosynthetic pathway engineering to generate biofuels and fatty acid derivedchemicals. For these applications, based on FA biosynthetic pathways, to succeed,detailed metabolic, functional and structural insights into FAS are required, alongwith an intimate knowledge into the regulation of FAS. In this review, we summarizeour present knowledge about the functional, structural, and regulatory aspectsof FAS