Abstract
Vitamin B7, biotin (from the Greek biotis meaning life) was originally known as vitamin H (from the German haar and haut for its hair and skin effects). The active form of biotin requires covalent attachment to a lysine side chain (to form the biotinyl amide on a long tether) in five target enzymes that engage in one-carbon transfers at the oxidation state of CO2. The most central enzyme is acetyl-CoA carboxylase, providing the three carbon malonyl-CoA product as building block for all chain elongations in fatty acid biosynthesis. Pyruvate carboxylation to oxaloacetate, mediated by the biotinyl enzyme pyruvate carboxylase, is a key step in daily gluconeogenesis by the liver.
Publisher
The Royal Society of Chemistry