engineering

Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase

Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase rather than just read about it. In short: In enzymology, a glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction acyl-CoA + sn-glycerol 3-phosphate ⇌ {\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons } CoA + 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are acyl-CoA and sn-glycerol 3-phosphate, whereas its two products are CoA and 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. This enzyme belongs to the family of t…

Key takeaways

Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In enzymology, a glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction

acyl-CoA + sn-glycerol 3-phosphate ⇌ {\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons } CoA + 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are acyl-CoA and sn-glycerol 3-phosphate, whereas its two products are CoA and 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. This enzyme belongs to the family of transferases, specifically those acyltransferases transferring groups other than aminoacyl groups. The systematic name of this enzyme class is acyl-CoA:sn-glycerol-3-phosphate 1-O-acyltransferase. Other names in common use include alpha-glycerophosphate acyltransferase, 3-glycerophosphate acyltransferase, ACP:sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferase, glycerol phosphate acyltransferase, glycerol phosphate transacylase, glycerophosphate acyltransferase, glycerophosphate transacylase, sn-glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferase, and sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase. This enzyme participates in glycerolipid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism. The later pathways in human is part of the WikiPathways machine readable pathway collection.

Structural studies As of late 2007, two structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes PDB: 1IUQ and PDB: 1K30. Currently 4 different proteins are assigned to this reaction, GPAT1, GPAT2, GPAT3 and GPAT4. GPAT1 and 2 are considered mitochondrial proteins.

References

Bertrams M; Heinz E (1981). "Positional Specificity and Fatty Acid Selectivity of Purified sn-Glycerol 3-Phosphate Acyltransferases from Chloroplasts". Plant Physiol. 68 (3): 653–657. doi:10.1104/pp.68.3.653. PMC 425956. PMID 16661974. Frentzen M, Heinz E, McKeon TA, Stumpf PK (1983). "Specificities and selectivities of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase and monoacylglycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase from pea and spinach chloroplasts". Eur. J. Biochem. 129 (3): 629–36. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1983.tb07096.x. PMID 6825679. Green PR, Vanaman TC, Modrich P, Bell RM (1983). "Partial NH2- and COOH-terminal sequence and cyanogen bromide peptide analysis of Escherichia coli sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase". J. Biol. Chem. 258 (18): 10862–6. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(17)44355-9. PMID 6350296. Yamashita S, Numa S (1972). "Partial purification and properties of glycerophosphate acyltransferase from rat liver. Formation of 1-acylglycerol 3-phosphate from sn-glycerol 3-phosphate and palmityl coenzyme A". Eur. J. Biochem. 31 (3): 565–73. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1972.tb02566.x. PMID 4650158.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase

In research: Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics EC 2.3.1, EC 2.3 stubs, Enzymes of known structure, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase in simple terms?

In enzymology, a glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction acyl-CoA + sn-glycerol 3-phosphate ⇌ {\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons } CoA + 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are acyl-CoA and sn-glycerol…

Why does Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase.