A hub for regulation of mitochondrial metabolism: Fatty acid and lipoic acid biosynthesis.

Having evolved from a prokaryotic origin, mitochondria retain pathways required for the catabolism of energy-rich molecules and for the biosynthesis of molecules that aid catabolism and/or participate in other cellular processes essential for life of the cell. Reviewed here are details of the mitochondrial fatty acid biosynthetic pathway (FAS II) and its role in building both the octanoic acid precursor for lipoic acid biosynthesis (LAS) and longer-chain fatty acids functioning in chaperoning the assembly of mitochondrial multisubunit complexes. Also covered are the details of mitochondrial lipoic acid biosynthesis, which is distinct from that of prokaryotes, and the attachment of lipoic acid to subunits of pyruvate dehydrogenase, α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and glycine cleavage system complexes.

Long-term outcome after management of pilocytic astrocytoma in the posterior fossa in a pediatric population.

Background And Purpose: To assess the impact of posterior fossa pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) removal in pediatric patients, with special focus on postoperative neurological outcome after repeated surgery for tumor remnants.

Methods: Our institutional database was screened for patients with PA treated between 2000 and 2019. Patients ≤ 18 years of age with complete clinical records, preoperative contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postoperative follow-up time of ≥ 6 months were suitable for study inclusion.

Genetic dissection of the mitochondrial lipoylation pathway in yeast.

Background: Lipoylation of 2-ketoacid dehydrogenases is essential for mitochondrial function in eukaryotes. While the basic principles of the lipoylation processes have been worked out, we still lack a thorough understanding of the details of this important post-translational modification pathway. Here we used yeast as a model organism to characterize substrate usage by the highly conserved eukaryotic octanoyl/lipoyl transferases in vivo and queried how amenable the lipoylation system is to supplementation with exogenous substrate.

Biogas plants as key units of biorefinery concepts: Options and their assessment.

In order to minimize the environmental impacts of growing population, progressive exploitation of fossil resources and negative consequences of climate change the politically intended goal is to successively transform our primarily oil-based into a bio-based economy. Hence, one goal is to significantly reduce the utilization of fossil resources by increasing the use of renewable energy and resources (i.e.