Acot5, acyl-CoA thioesterase 5, is an enzyme involved in fatty acyl-CoA metabolism. It functions in the process of producing free fatty acids, likely by catalyzing the hydrolysis of acyl-CoA esters. This enzyme is associated with lipid metabolism pathways and is important for the normal processing and distribution of lipids within cells [2].

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, when the truncated version of Acot5 (Acot5s) from Mus musculus was expressed in the cytoplasm of a double-deletion strain △faa1△faa4 (where genes encoding two acyl-CoA synthetases were deleted), the resulting strain △faa1△faa4 [Acot5s] accumulated more extracellular free fatty acids (FFA) with a higher unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) ratio compared to the wild-type and the double-deletion strains. The extracellular total fatty acids increased significantly during the stationary phase, and the expression of Acot5s also restored the growth of the △faa1△faa4 strain, indicating that FFA may not be the cause of growth inhibition in this strain. RT-PCR results showed that the de-repression of fatty acid synthesis genes led to the increase of extracellular fatty acids, demonstrating the potential of Acot5 in enhancing fatty acid production in the context of microbial fatty-acid-derived biofuels [1].

In rats, perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) exposure during pregnancy and lactation affected the expression of Acot5, along with other genes, in offspring. These gene expression changes were related to lipid metabolism-related pathways, although the effects on metabolic phenotypes were not significant within the observational period [3].

In conclusion, Acot5 is crucial in lipid metabolism, especially in fatty acid production. Its study in model organisms like yeast and rats has provided insights into its role in lipid-related processes. These findings contribute to understanding the mechanisms of lipid metabolism and may have implications for areas such as biofuel production and the impact of environmental pollutants on lipid metabolism-related health outcomes [1,3].

References:

1. Chen, Liwei, Zhang, Jianhua, Lee, Jaslyn, Chen, Wei Ning. 2014. Enhancement of free fatty acid production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by control of fatty acyl-CoA metabolism. In Applied microbiology and biotechnology, 98, 6739-50. doi:10.1007/s00253-014-5758-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24769906/

2. Westin, M A K, Hunt, M C, Alexson, S E H. . Short- and medium-chain carnitine acyltransferases and acyl-CoA thioesterases in mouse provide complementary systems for transport of beta-oxidation products out of peroxisomes. In Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, 65, 982-90. doi:10.1007/s00018-008-7576-6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18264800/

3. Meng, Xi, Yu, Guoqi, Luo, Tingyu, Zhang, Jun, Liu, Yongjie. 2023. Transcriptomics integrated with metabolomics reveals perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) exposure effect during pregnancy and lactation on lipid metabolism in rat offspring. In Chemosphere, 341, 140120. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140120. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37696479/