Farnesyl pyrophosphate

Farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) is a fifteen-carbon isoprenoid intermediate formed from three isoprene units. It supplies carbon for sesquiterpene synthesis and sterol biosynthesis.

Mevalonate pathway: A metabolic pathway that converts acetyl-CoA into isoprenoid precursors, including farnesyl pyrophosphate. In animals and many microbes, this pathway produces the isoprenoid units assembled into FPP.
Protein farnesylation: A post-translational modification that attaches a farnesyl group to certain proteins, often helping them associate with membranes. FPP donates the farnesyl group attached to proteins in this modification.
Isoprenoid: A large family of natural products and biomolecules assembled from five-carbon isoprene-derived units. FPP belongs to this family’s biosynthetic network and is assembled from its five-carbon building blocks.
Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate: A twenty-carbon isoprenoid intermediate used in diterpene synthesis and protein geranylgeranylation. Its extra five-carbon unit distinguishes it from FPP and supports different products and modifications.
Farnesyl diphosphate synthase: An enzyme that forms farnesyl diphosphate by joining dimethylallyl diphosphate with two molecules of isopentenyl diphosphate. This enzyme catalyzes the chain-building step that produces FPP.
Sesquiterpenes: A class of terpenes built from three isoprene units, including many plant volatiles and defensive compounds. FPP is the common fifteen-carbon precursor from which many sesquiterpenes are made.
Geranyl pyrophosphate: A ten-carbon isoprenoid intermediate formed from two five-carbon units and used in terpene biosynthesis. It is the shorter prenyl intermediate that receives another five-carbon unit to form FPP.
Non-mevalonate pathway: An alternative pathway that produces isoprenoid precursors from pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. It supplies the same upstream isoprenoid building blocks through a route distinct from the mevalonate pathway.
Squalene synthase: An enzyme that condenses two molecules of farnesyl diphosphate to form squalene. It commits FPP to the sterol-producing branch by combining two FPP molecules.
Coenzyme Q: A lipid-soluble electron carrier in the respiratory chain, also known as ubiquinone. FPP contributes the isoprenoid side chain used in coenzyme Q biosynthesis.

Linked from 7 pages