Figure 1
Carnitine shuttle in mitochondria and chemical structures of carnitines. (A) Description of acylcarnitine metabolism (free fatty acid metabolism) in general. Acyl-CoA and carnitine are conjugated (acylcarnitine) by carnitine-palmitoyl transferase I (CPT I) and transported across the inner membrane of mitochondria via carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase (CACT). Then, acyl-CoA and carnitine are released into the mitochondrial matrix by carnitine-palmitoyl transferase 2 (CPT II). Acyl-CoA is finally degraded and released as acetyl-CoA to enter the TCA cycle, synthesizing ATP. Subfigure A is created by BioRender.com (accessed on 23 March, 2021). (B?E) Molecular structures of acyl-l-carnitine, short-chain carnitine and long-chain acylcarnitines (LCACs).