Skeletal muscle fatty acid transport and transporters.
Long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) are an important energy source for many tissues. The dogma that LCFAs are freely diffusible has been challenged. It is now known that LCFAs are transported into many tissues. Our studies have shown that LCFAs are also transported into skeletal muscle and into the heart. In recent years a number of putative fatty acid transport proteins have been identified. These are known as plasma membrane fatty acid binding protein (FABPpm, 43 kDa), fatty acid translocase (FAT, 88 kDa) and fatty acid transporter protein (FATP, 63 kDa). All three proteins are present in skeletal muscle and in the heart. The existence of an LCFA transport system in muscle may be essential 1) to facilitate the rapid and regulatable transport of LCFA to meet the metabolic requirements of working muscles and 2) to cope with an increase in circulating LCFAs in some pathological conditions (e.g. diabetes). There is now some evidence that metabolic changes and chronically increased muscle activity can increase the transport of LCFAs and increase the expression of putative LCFA transporters.
Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
A
A
Bonen
D J
DJ
Dyck
J J
JJ
Luiken
D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D018996:Myelin P2 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
D002352:Carrier Proteins; C107608:FABP7 protein, human; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D005227:Fatty Acids; D018996:Myelin P2 Protein; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins