Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Acetyl-carnitine in Heart and Liver

Abstract

Friedman and Fraenkel1 showed that the reversible acetylation of L-carnitine by acetyl-coenzyme A could be catalysed by extracts from pigeon liver. Carnitine acetyl transferase (E.C.2.3.1.7) has recently been partly purified from pig heart2. The existence of a carnitine palmitoyl transferase, distinct from the acetyl transferase, has been shown3,5, and it has been suggested4,5 that acyl-carnitine compounds might play a part in the transfer of activated acyl-groups across the mitochondrial membrane. Intracellular levels of acyl-carnitinecompounds might be expected to be influenced by conditions known to affect the tissue levels of acyl-coenzyme A compounds6,7.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Friedman, S., and Fraenkel, G., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 59, 491 (1955).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Fritz, I. B., Schultz, S. K., and Srere, P. A., J. Biol. Chem., 238, 2509 (1963).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bremer, J., J. Biol. Chem., 238, 2774 (1963).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bremer, J., J. Biol. Chem., 237, 3628 (1962).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Fritz, I. B., and Yue, K. T. N., J. Lipid. Res., 4, 279 (1963).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Wieland, O., and Weiss, L., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 10, 333 (1963).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Tubbs, P. K., and Garland, P. B., Biochem. J., 89, 25, P (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Newsholme, E. A., and Randle, P. J., Biochem. J., 80, 655 (1961).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

PEARSON, D., TUBBS, P. Acetyl-carnitine in Heart and Liver. Nature 202, 91 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/202091a0

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/202091a0

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing