
In humans, CoA biosynthesis requires cysteine, pantothenate (vitamin B5), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In its acetyl form, coenzyme A is highly versatile molecule, serving metabolic functions in both the anabolic and catabolic pathways.
What is the relationship between vitamins and coenzymes?
Vitamins work together in impressive ways as coenzymes or precursors to coenzymes. Precursors are substances that can be converted into active vitamins and coenzymes. Thiamin, or vitamin B1, functions as a coenzyme in the oxidation of glucose. Thiamin serves as a coenzyme for several enzymes that take part in metabolic reactions.
Which vitamin acts like a hormone?
What most people don’t know, is that Vitamin D is actually a prohormone. Prohormones are substances that the body is able to convert into a hormone. Once Vitamin D is ingested or absorbed, it is then converted into a hormone (calcitriol) in the liver and kidneys, to help absorb calcium and distribute it throughout the body.
Which vitamins have antioxidant effects?
Vitamins
- Beta-carotene
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
Which vitamins are good for the immune system?
The 15 Best Supplements to Boost Your Immune System Right Now
- Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient essential to the health and functioning of your immune system. ...
- Zinc. Zinc is a mineral that’s commonly added to supplements and other healthcare products like lozenges that are meant to boost your immune system.
- Vitamin C. ...
- Elderberry. ...
- Medicinal mushrooms. ...

Which vitamin is an essential component of coenzyme A CoA )?
Pantothenic acid (also known as vitamin B5) is an essential nutrient that is naturally present in some foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. The main function of this water-soluble B vitamin is in the synthesis of coenzyme A (CoA) and acyl carrier protein [1,2].
What vitamin synthesizes coenzyme A?
vitamin B5Pantothenate is vitamin B5 and is the key precursor for the biosynthesis of coenzyme A (CoA) and carrier proteins that have a phosphopantetheine prosthetic group.
What is a component of coenzyme A?
Coenzyme A is a coenzyme containing pantothenic acid, adenosine 3-phosphate 5-pyrophosphate, and cysteamine; involved in the transfer of acyl groups, notably in transacetylations.
How is coenzyme A formed?
Coenzyme A is biosynthesized in bacteria in nine steps. The biosynthesis begins with the decarboxylation of aspartate to give beta-alanine. Pantoic acid is formed by the hydroxymethylation of alpha-ketoisovalerate followed by reduction. These intermediates are then condensed to give pantothenic acid.
Where do we get coenzyme A?
Coenzyme A is naturally synthesized from pantothenate (vitamin B5), which is found in food such as meat, vegetables, cereal grains, legumes, eggs, and milk. In humans and most living organisms, pantothenate is an essential vitamin that has a variety of functions.
What does vitamin B5 do?
In addition to playing a role in the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates for energy, vitamin B5 is critical to the manufacture of red blood cells, as well as sex and stress-related hormones produced in the adrenal glands, small glands that sit atop the kidneys.
Is niacin a coenzyme?
Niacin is a coenzyme, like thiamine and riboflavin, that is responsible for energy release from carbohydrates. A niacin deficiency can lead to pellagra, a disabling disease with symptoms that may be characterized by four “Ds”: depression, diarrhea, delirium and dementia.
What is vitamin B5 Also known as?
Vitamin B5, or pantothenic acid, is naturally present in foods, added to foods, and available as a supplement.
How is CoA synthesized?
In mammalian tissues (but not in red blood cells), CoA is synthesized from pantothenic acid in five enzymatic steps. Three substrates are needed to synthesize CoA: pantothenic acid, ATP, and cysteine. The rate-controlling step in the synthesis is the conversion of pantothenic acid to 4'-phosphopantothenic acid by pantothenate kinase. Tissue levels of CoA are kept in check by feedback inhibition of pantothenate kinase by CoA, acetyl-CoA, or a related metabolite.
What is the name of the compound that contains pantothenic acid?
Coenzyme A. Coenzyme A is the major pantothenic acid-containing compound present in foods of both animal and plant origin, accompanied by small amounts of other bound forms (phosphopantothenic acid, pantetheine, and phosphopantetheine). From: Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition), 2003. Download as PDF.
How does pantothenate move?
At physiological intakes, pantothenate must move across the brush-border membrane of the intestinal epithelium from a region of lower concentration in the lumen to one of higher concentration in the cytoplasm of the absorptive cell (enterocyte). Such ‘uphill’ movement requires active transport – a mechanism that depends ultimately upon the expenditure of metabolic energy, i.e., the energy released from the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate produced during cellular metabolism. The precise mechanism of pantothenate absorption is secondary active transport in which a transmembrane protein (inappropriately called a carrier) mediates the sodium-coupled transfer of pantothenate across the brush-border membrane. The carrier spans the membrane in a weaving fashion and effects solute transfer through a conformational change in its molecular structure. The immediate energy source for the transport mechanism is the concentration gradient of sodium across the brush-border membrane. The gradient is maintained by the constant extrusion of sodium from the enterocyte by the action of the sodium pump at the basolateral membrane. The sodium pump is driven by metabolic energy and is the primary driving force for pantothenate absorption. As the transport process does not respond to an electrical gradient, it nust be electroneutral, indicating a 1:1 cotransport of Na + and pantothenate − by the same carrier. The mechanism by which pantothenic acid exits the absorptive cell at the basolateral membrane has not been established.
What is the role of CoA in the body?
We now know that CoA plays a key role in carbohydrate, lipid, and amino acid metabolism. Figure 1.
Where is CoA synthase completed?
CoA synthesis is completed either in cytosol or in mitochondria by a bifunctional CoA synthase complex that comprises both pantetheine phosphate adenylyltransferase (EC2.7.7.3) and dephospho-CoA kinase (EC2.7.1.24) activities. Different genes encode the cytosolic and mitochondrial forms of the CoA synthase complex.
When was CoA discovered?
Background and Discovery. Coenzyme A (CoA) was discovered by Fritz Lipmann and his colleagues in the early 1950s. The coenzyme was first isolated from large quantities of pig liver extract as the factor required for the acetylation of sulfanilamide, the assay system used to track CoA during its purification.
Where does pantotheine 4′-phosphate and CoA transport?
Significant transport of both pantotheine 4′-phosphate and CoA ( Tahiliani, 1991) into mitochondria occurs. Much more CoA is inside mitochondria than in cytosol (75–95% depending on tissue), both due to the direction of the normal electrochemical gradient and metabolic trapping as acyl-CoA.
What is the role of thiamin in the body?
Thiamin, or vitamin B1, functions as a coenzyme in the oxidation of glucose. Thiamin serves as a coenzyme for several enzymes that take part in metabolic reactions. Eat meats, leafy green vegetables, whole grains and legumes to benefit from thiamin.
What is pantothenic acid?
Pantothenic acid serves as a precursor to coenzyme A, which is critical to the synthesis or oxidation of fatty acids and carbohydrates. As its name implies, pantothenic acid occurs naturally in many foods, including whole grains, legumes, egg yolks and meat. It is also synthesized by intestinal bacteria.
How does biotin work?
Biotin works as a coenzyme for other enzymes that catalyze various chemical reactions in metabolism. For instance, biotin works with the enzyme pyruvate carboxylase, which is essential to the Kreb’s cycle, a complex series of chemical reactions that provides cells with energy. Biotin occurs in legumes, egg yolks, nuts and liver. Intestinal bacteria also synthesize biotin.
What is the role of folic acid in DNA?
Folic acid works as a coenzyme in synthesizing several amino acids, purines and thymine, which are used in making DNA. A deficiency of folic acid results in anemia and growth failure. Folic acid is found in many foods, including dark green vegetables such as spinach, beef, eggs and whole grains. It is also synthesized by intestinal bacteria.
What is nicotinamide?
Niacin, also called nicotinamide, serves as a precursor to two coenzymes that are hydrogen carriers in the glycolysis, Kreb’s cycle and oxidative phosphorylation metabolic processes that provide energy to the body. Niacin occurs in meats, leafy green vegetables, potatoes and peanuts. Your body can also make small amounts of niacin from the amino acid tryptophan.
What are the functions of the B complex?
Members of the vitamin B complex serve as coenzymes that assist every cell in the human body. They help the body metabolize carbohydrates, proteins and fats and build DNA for new cells. Without its coenzyme, an enzyme will not function. Vitamins work together in impressive ways as coenzymes or precursors to coenzymes. Precursors are substances that can be converted into active vitamins and coenzymes.
What is riboflavin in food?
Riboflavin occurs in many foods, including milk, grains and meats.
What can be induced by ingesting large amounts of thiamin and folic acid?
A deficiency can be induced by ingesting large amounts of thiamin and folic acid, which interfere with its absorption.
What is the function of a c. protein?
c. It acts as a storage protein for the vitamin within the intestinal epithelial cells
Why does the intestinal mucosa need enzymes?
It requires enzymes on the intestinal mucosa to enhance its absorption from most foods.
Can avidin bind to niacin?
b. follow the diet, since the avidin in the egg whites could bind to niacin and prevent its absorption.
What is the vitamin K in plants?
Vitamin K - phylloquinone in plants; menaquinone in aminals and bacteria
What group transfers from Me-THF to homocycteine to synthesize Met?
Transfers Methyl group from Me-THF to homocycteine to synthesize Met
Which vitamin is part of the B complex?
Vitamins #5-7 are part of the B complex
Which group of oxidation is carried at all oxidation levels?
Carries C-1 groups at all oxidation levels
Is amino group needed in substrate?
Very versatile, but amino group needed in substrate

Overview
Biosynthesis
Coenzyme A is naturally synthesized from pantothenate (vitamin B5), which is found in food such as meat, vegetables, cereal grains, legumes, eggs, and milk. In humans and most living organisms, pantothenate is an essential vitamin that has a variety of functions. In some plants and bacteria, including Escherichia coli, pantothenate can be synthesised de novo and is therefore not considered es…
Discovery of structure
Coenzyme A was identified by Fritz Lipmann in 1946, who also later gave it its name. Its structure was determined during the early 1950s at the Lister Institute, London, together by Lipmann and other workers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Lipmann initially intended to study acetyl transfer in animals, and from these experiments he noticed a unique factor tha…
Function
Since coenzyme A is, in chemical terms, a thiol, it can react with carboxylic acids to form thioesters, thus functioning as an acyl group carrier. It assists in transferring fatty acids from the cytoplasm to mitochondria. A molecule of coenzyme A carrying an acyl group is also referred to as acyl-CoA. When it is not attached to an acyl group, it is usually referred to as 'CoASH' or 'HSCoA'. This p…
Use in biological research
Coenzyme A is available from various chemical suppliers as the free acid and lithium or sodium salts. The free acid of coenzyme A is detectably unstable, with around 5% degradation observed after 6 months when stored at −20 °C, and near complete degradation after 1 month at 37 °C. The lithium and sodium salts of CoA are more stable, with negligible degradation noted over several months at various temperatures. Aqueous solutions of coenzyme A are unstable above pH 8, wit…
Non-exhaustive list of coenzyme A-activated acyl groups
• Acetyl-CoA
• fatty acyl-CoA (activated form of all fatty acids; only the CoA esters are substrates for important reactions such as mono-, di-, and triacylglycerol synthesis, carnitine palmitoyl transferase, and cholesterol esterification)
• Acetoacetyl-CoA
Bibliography
• Nelson, David L.; Cox, Michael M. (2005). Lehninger: Principles of Biochemistry (4th ed.). New York: W .H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-4339-2.