Hepatic fatty acid synthesis pathway

The hepatic fatty acid synthesis pathway is a metabolic process by which hepatocytes (liver cells) convert acetyl-CoA, primarily derived from carbohydrates or amino acids, into long-chain fatty acids. This multi-step process begins in the mitochondria, where acetyl-CoA is exported to the cytosol as citrate, then reconverted and processed through a series of cytosolic reactions catalyzed by enzymes such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS)[1][2][3][4][6]. The pathway is tightly regulated by metabolic and hormonal signals (notably insulin and glucose), with key transcriptional regulators including SREBP-1c and ChREBP[1]. Its physiologic roles include the synthesis and storage of energy as triglycerides and the provision of lipid substrates for membrane biosynthesis. Dysregulation contributes to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obesity[5].

Other names

de novo hepatic lipogenesishepatic lipogenesisliver fatty acid synthesis pathway