Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase

Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (which can also be called MCD and malonyl-CoA carboxyl-lyase) is found from bacteria to humans, has important roles in regulating fatty acid metabolism and food intake, and it is an attractive target for drug discovery. It is an enzyme associated with Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase deficiency. In humans, it is encoded by the MLYCD gene. Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (which can also be called MCD and malonyl-CoA carboxyl-lyase) is found from bacteria to humans, has important roles in regulating fatty acid metabolism and food intake, and it is an attractive target for drug discovery. It is an enzyme associated with Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase deficiency. In humans, it is encoded by the MLYCD gene. Its main function is to catalyze the conversion of malonyl-CoA into acetyl-CoA and carbon dioxide. It is involved in fatty acid biosynthesis. To some degree, it reverses the action of Acetyl-CoA carboxylase. MCD presents two isoforms which can be transcribed form one gene: a long isoform (54kDa), distributed in mitochondria, and a short isoform (49kDa) that can be found in peroxisomes and cytosol. The long isoform includes a sequence of signaling towards mitochondria in the N-terminus; whereas the short one only contains the typical sequence of peroxisomal signaling PTS1 in the C-terminus, also shared by the long isoform. MCD is a protein tetramer, an oligomer formed by a dimer of heterodimers related by an axis of binary symmetry with a rotation angle of about 180 degrees. The strong structural asymmetry between the monomers of the heterodimer suggests a half of the sites reactivity, in which only half of the active sites are functional simultaneously.Each monomer contains basically two domains: