How Fat Gets Burned in Tiny Cell Powerhouses
The oxidation of fatty acids combined with albumin by isolated rat liver mitochondria.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study looks at how liver cell parts called mitochondria burn fat when it's carried by a protein called albumin. It checks what happens to the fat and what byproducts are made, depending on how much of another chemical (malate) is around.
Surprising Findings
Albumin contributes to oxygen uptake even after purification and dialysis.
Albumin is assumed to be inert in metabolic studies, but here it shows oxidizable material, potentially confounding results in fatty acid oxidation experiments.
Practical Takeaways
Support mitochondrial fat burning by ensuring adequate levels of citric acid cycle intermediates like malate through diet or metabolic health.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study looks at how liver cell parts called mitochondria burn fat when it's carried by a protein called albumin. It checks what happens to the fat and what byproducts are made, depending on how much of another chemical (malate) is around.
Surprising Findings
Albumin contributes to oxygen uptake even after purification and dialysis.
Albumin is assumed to be inert in metabolic studies, but here it shows oxidizable material, potentially confounding results in fatty acid oxidation experiments.
Practical Takeaways
Support mitochondrial fat burning by ensuring adequate levels of citric acid cycle intermediates like malate through diet or metabolic health.
Publication
Journal
The Journal of biological chemistry
Year
1966
Authors
P. Björntorp
Related Content
Claims (4)
When your body burns fat for energy, it makes water inside your cells, and that water helps keep your energy factories (mitochondria) working properly.
When rat liver cells burn fat for energy, they don’t just turn it into carbon dioxide — they also make energy-related chemicals and use some of the fat to build cell parts.
When long-chain fats are carried by a protein in the blood, rat liver parts can burn them really well to make energy, even when there's a lot of fat around.
In rat liver cells, how much malate is around changes what happens to palmitic acid — a little malate helps burn it completely, but more malate makes the cell store up a different chemical instead.