Compare the differences between β oxidation and fatty acid synthesis (lipogenesis). Are these pathways the reverse of each other?

Question

Accepted Answer

All right. Hello everyone. So this question is asking us to determine if the statement below about beta oxidation and fatty acid synthesis also known as lipogenesis is true or false if it is false, give the correct description. So the statement reads as follows. It says that the beta oxidation and the synthesis of fatty acids are two crucial metabolic processes that are carried out in the Golgi complex and mitochondria respectively. The two processes are the exact opposite of each other and they follow the opposite reaction pathway. All right. So first for a question like this, it's important to understand what pathways we're talking about and identify any similarities and differences between them. So let's compare beta oxidation and lipogenesis or once again, fatty acid synthesis. So first and foremost, recall that beta oxidation refers to the breakdown of fatty acids. And so what you do is you take fatty acids, you break them down and you yield a PSEO coet. Now, in addition to producing acetyl coa, this pathway also produces some A TP. Now, on the other hand, when talking about lipogenesis, you're taking acetyl coa which is the smaller molecule here and you're combining aceto koa equivalents together to create a larger fatty acid. Because of this this pathway, lipogenesis is going to require the consumption of a TP. So, beta oxidation makes energy and lipogenesis uses energy. And so therefore, we can say that beta oxidation is a cab bolic pathway. Whereas lipogenesis is an anabolic pathway catic pathways break down larger ST starting materials into smaller products. And anabolic pathways combine smaller starting materials into larger products. Now, when it comes to the location of these two particular pathways, beta oxidation primarily takes place in the mitochondria. On the other hand, lipogenesis takes place in the cytozole. Now, because these two pathways can be categorized differently. The co enzymes that they use are also going to be different. For example, beta oxidation being a cat bolic pathway is going to need N ad positive as well as F AD as coincides. On the other hand, lipogenesis is an anabolic pathway that is associated with NADPH usage. And so from here, we get a sense as to how different these two pathways truly are because at face value, it's easy to say that beta oxidation and lipogenesis are exact reverses based on what the starting materials and the products are for both pathways. But there are several reasons as to why these two reactions are not exact reverses. The first reason is the location, right. One of them takes place in the mitochondria and the other takes place in the cytozole if they were exact reverses. It's implied that they would take place in the same location. The second reason is energy balance because one pathway produces ATP, whereas the other consumes ATP, we've previously talked about the co enzymes required as well because these pathways are considered cab bolic and anabolic respectively. They're associated with different cofactors or co enzymes, excuse me. But another thing, another factor here and this is a very important one is that the enzymes involved in both pathways are distinct. So the enzymes that are involved in the pathways are distinct and they have different mechanisms for catalyzing their respective reactions. So basically, the statement provided is false. And so we have our final answer. The statement provided is false. The beta oxidation and the synthesis of fatty acids are two crucial metabolic processes that are carried out in the mitochondria and cytosol respectively. The two processes are not the exact opposite of each other because they follow two different paths. And so with that being said, thank you so very much for watching. And I hope you found this helpful.

Compare the differences between β oxidation and fatty acid synthesis (lipogenesis). Are these pathways the reverse of each other?

Verified video answer for a similar problem:

Key Concepts

Beta Oxidation

Fatty Acid Synthesis (Lipogenesis)

Pathway Reversibility