β-oxidation · reaction 2 of 7

Palmitoyl-CoA → Fatty acyl-CoA

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase · carnitine shuttle EC 2.3.1.21

The inner membrane does not let acyl-CoA through. Carnitine picks it up outside, crosses with it and hands it back to coenzyme A once inside the matrix. It is the gate of the pathway, and so it is where the decision to burn fat is made.

irreversible
Inner mitochondrial membrane

in depth

ΔG°′: not documented
Inhibited by: Malonyl-CoA
Location: Inner mitochondrial membrane

Fun fact

Malonyl-CoA, the first molecule of fat synthesis, blocks this gate. That way the cell cannot make and burn fatty acids at the same time: one pathway shuts the other with its own product.

Nelson, D. L. & Cox, M. M. (2021). Lehninger. Principios de bioquímica, 8.ª ed., ch. 17

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β-oxidationCarnitine palmitoyltransferase · carnitine shuttle

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