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WageningenX: NUTR101x
Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition Help anamarianechifor19 

Course Discussion Map FAQ Dates & Grades Professional Certi cate Programme Glossary Progress

Course  Module 4 Lipids  4.5 Lipid metabolism  4.5.2 Use of fatty acids as fuel

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4.5.2 Use of fatty acids as fuel

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Use of fatty acids as fuel

From triglycerides to fatty acids
Depending on whether you are in the fasted state or you just consumed a heavy meal, most of the triglycerides in the blood are present either as
VLDL or chylomicrons. The action of lipoprotein lipase bound to the wall of capillaries in the heart, skeletal muscle and fat tissue results in
conversion of triglycerides within VLDL and chylomicrons into fatty acids. The fatty acids subsequently enter into the tissues to be used as fuel
(muscle, heart) or to be stored as triglycerides (fat tissue). The activity of lipoprotein lipase in fat tissue is stimulated by insulin and goes up after
a meal to ensure e cient storage of consumed fat. 

From fatty acid to energy

Once taken up into cells, most of the fatty acids are burned to yield energy in the form of ATP. The breakdown of fatty acids to generate ATP
resembles the breakdown of glucose to ATP as discussed in section 2.5. In the rst step the fatty acid is progressively shortened to yield Acetyl-
CoA. This step is called beta-oxidation. In the second step, Acetyl-CoA is further oxidized via the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle or citric acid
cycle. The energy liberated during beta-oxidation and the TCA cycle is temporarily stored in NADH (or FADH2 to be exact). As explained in section
2.5, NADH donates its energy to a set of proteins that together comprise the electron transport chain and which ultimately converts the energy
into ATP.

Other processes
In addition to serving as fuel, fatty acids are also important signaling molecules that regulate a variety of di erent processes in the cell. For
instance, fatty acids are able to turn on genes by binding to special receptors called PPARs. 

Storage of fatty acids

The fatty acids taken up into cells that are not needed to produce energy are stored as triglycerides in so called lipid droplets. Fat cells consist of
one large lipid droplets. Muscle cells and many other cell types contain many small lipid droplets. Excess fat storage in many cell types can wreak
havoc on the normal functioning of cells. 

Students that are interested to know more about the breakdown of fatty acids in cells and the resultant energy production are encouraged to
watch the following animation.

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