Human mitochondrial malonyl CoA:ACP transacylase

The recently discovered mammalian type 2 fatty acid synthase (FAS) system, localized to mitochondria, consists like its bacterial counterparts of dissociated protein components, as opposed to the cytosolic type 1 FAS which is organized on a single polypeptide chain. The product of mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis is presumably lipoic acid, required as prosthetic group for different essential metabolic reactions. The initial step in fatty acid synthesis is catalyzed by malonyl CoA:ACP transacylase (MTA), which catalyzes a covalent attachment of a malonyl group to the pantheteinyl moiety of the mitochondrial acceptor acyl carrier protein (mACP).