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In biochemistry and metabolism, beta oxidation (also β-oxidation) is the catabolic process by which fatty acid molecules are broken down in the cytosol in prokaryotes and in the mitochondria in eukaryotes to generate acetyl-CoA.
Beta-oxidation of Fatty Acid. A key metabolic process that breaks down fatty acids and produces ATP and other compounds rich in energy is beta-oxidation. This activity takes place in cells’ mitochondria and is crucial for maintaining energy balance, especially during fasting or vigorous exercise.
Oxidation of fatty acids occurs in multiple regions of the cell within the human body; the mitochondria, in which only beta-oxidation occurs; the peroxisome, where alpha- and beta-oxidation occur; and omega-oxidation, which occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Beta oxidation is a metabolic process involving multiple steps by which fatty acid molecules are broken down to produce energy. More specifically, beta oxidation consists in breaking down long fatty acids that have been converted to acyl-CoA chains into progressively smaller fatty acyl-CoA chains.
Once inside the mitochondrial matrix, the fatty acids undergo oxidation in a four-step process known as β-oxidation of fatty acid. It is so named because the β-carbon undergoes successive oxidations while removing two carbon atoms from the carboxyl end of the acyl-CoA molecule, forming acetyl-CoA.
Figure 6.11.2: Beta Oxidation of Fatty Acids. Reactions two and three in beta oxidation are catalyzed by enoyl-CoA hydratase and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, respectively. The latter reaction yields an NADH.
Fatty acids, obtained from the breakdown of triglycerides and other lipids, are oxidized through a series of reactions known as β-oxidation. In each round of β-oxidation, 1 molecule of acetyl-CoA, 1 molecule of NADH, and 1 molecule of FADH 2 are produced.
Mitochondrial β-oxidation of fatty acids has four steps that occur in the mitochondrial matrix. In those steps, a 16:0 fatty acid (for example) is converted to a (14):0 fatty acid and the 2C molecule acetyl-CoA.
Once the triglycerides are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids they must be activated before they can enter into the mitochondria and proceed on with beta-oxidation. This is done by Acyl-CoA synthetase to yield fatty acyl-CoA.
Beta oxidation is a series of reactions that degrades fatty acids by removing a two-carbon unit. Before fatty acids enter the mitochondria for oxidation, they become activated via fatty acyl CoA synthetase. Each round of beta oxidation produces 1 FADH2, 1 NADH2, and 1 acetyl-CoA. The Preparation Step of Beta Oxidation: