Acetylaspartate as an extramitochondrial physiological carrier of acetyl CoA for fatty acid synthesis

Aminooxyacetate, a transaminase inhibitor, suppresses the enrichment in radioactivity found in the fatty acids of animals receiving 2, 4- 14C citrate in comparison with 1, 5- 14C citrate. On the other hand 3H from N-acetyl- 3H aspartate is significantly incorporated into fatty acids in vivo or in presence of liver supernatant fractions. Our results indicate that citrate seems to be an effective carrier of acetyl CoA for fatty acid synthesis mainly in the rat liver and that acetylaspartate may be an other physiological carrier of acetyl CoA outside the mitochondria.