Separation of pigeon liver apo- and holo- fatty acid synthetases by affinity chromatography.

Apo- and holo-fatty acid synthetases of pigeon liver were separated by affinity gel chromatography under conditions similar to, but not identical to, those used in separating subunits I and II of [¹⁴C]pantetheine-labeled fatty acid synthetase complex [Lornitzo $\text{et al.}$, J. Biol. Chem. $\text{249}$, 1654 (1974)]. When [¹⁴C]pantetheine-labeled fatty acid synthetases were separated, the enzymatically active holo form contained all of the [¹⁴C] label. Incubation of the apo-pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase complex with CoA, ATP and a partially purified pigeon liver soluble enzyme system, from which fatty acid synthetase had been removed, resulted in the formation of holo-enzyme. Activation of apo-fatty acid synthetase could also be achieved by replacing the apo-(4′-phosphopantetheine-less) acyl carrier protein with holo-acyl carrier protein. It is evident, therefore, that the inactive apo-fatty acid synthetase lacks a 4′-phosphopantetheine group.     

Stoichiometry of substrate binding to rat liver fatty acid synthetase.

Two rat liver fatty acid synthetase preparations, containing 1.6 and 2.0 mol of 4'-phosphopantetheine/mol of synthetase, showed specific activity of 2006 and 2140 nmol of NADPH oxidized/min per mg of protein respectively. The two synthetase preparations could be loaded with either 3.3-4.4 mol of [1-14] acetate or 2.9-3.7 mol of [2-14C]malonate, by incubation with either [1-14C] acetyl-CoA or [2-14C]malonyl-CoA. The 4'-phosphopantetheine site could be more than 90% saturated and the serine site about 80% saturated with malonate derived from malonyl-CoA. However, with acetyl-CoA as substrate, binding at both the 4'-phosphopantetheine and cysteine thiol sites did not reach saturation. We interpret these results to indicate that, whereas the equilibrium constant for transfer of substrates between the serine loading site and the 4'-phosphopantetheine site is close to unity, that for transfer of acetyl moieties between the 4'-phosphopantetheine and cysteine sites favours formation of the 4'-phosphopantetheine thioester. Thus, despite the apparent sub-stoichiometric binding of acetate, the results are consistent with a functionally symmetrical model for the fatty acid synthetase which permits simultaneous substrate binding at two separate active centres.     

Medium-chain fatty acid synthesis in lactating-rabbit mammary gland. Intracellular concentration and specificity of medium-chain acyl thioester hydrolase.

The concentration of medium-chain acyl thioester hydrolase and of fatty acid synthetase was determined by rocket immunoelectrophoresis in nine different particle-free supernatant fractions from lactating-rabbit mammary gland. The molar ratio of the hydrolase to fatty acid synthetase was 1.99 +/- 0.66 (mean +/- S.D.). A rate-limiting concentration of malonyl-CoA was required to ensure the predominant synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids when 2 mol of the hydrolase was added per mol of fatty acid synthetase. The interaction of the hydrolase with fatty acid synthetase was concentration-dependent, though an optimum concentration of hydrolase to synthetase could not be obtained. The lactating-rabbit mammary gland hydrolase altered the pattern of fatty acids synthesized by fatty acid synthetases prepared from cow, goat, sheep and rabbit lactating mammary glands, rabbit liver and cow adipose tissue.     

Subunits of fatty acid synthetase complexes. Enzymatic activities and properties of the half-molecular weight nonidentical subunits of pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase.

The separation of the half-molecular weight, nonidentical subunits (I and II) of the pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase complex has been achieved on a large (20 mg) scale by affinity chromatography on Sepharose epsilon-aminocaproyl pantetheine. This separation requires a careful control of temperature, ionic strength, pH, and column flow rate for success. The yield of subunit II is further improved by transacetylation (with acetyl-CoA) of the dissociated fatty acid synthetase prior to affinity chromatography. The separated subunit I (reductase) contains the 4'-phosphopantetheine (A2) acyl binding site, two NADPH binding sites, and beta-ketoacyl and crotonyl thioester reductases. Subunit II (transacylase) contains the B1 (hydroxyl or loading) and B2 (cysteine) acyl binding sites, and acetyl- and malonyl-CoA: pantetheine transacylases. When subunit I is mixed in equimolar quantities with subunit II, an additional NADPH binding site is found even though subunit II alone shows no NADPH binding. Both subunits contain activities for the partial reactions, beta-hydroxybutyryl thioester dehydrase (crotonase) and palmityl-CoA deacylase. Subunit I has 8 sulfhydryl groups per mol whereas subunit II has 60. Reconstitution of fatty acid synthetase activity to 75% of the control level is achieved on reassociation of subunits I and II.     

Biosynthesis of sphingomyelin in rat liver endoplasmic reticulum.

Rat liver microsomal sphingomyelin synthetase (CDPcholine: N-acylspingosine choline phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.8.3)) has been shown to be markedly stimulated by ATP and pantothenic acid derivatives such as CoA, pantethine, pantetheine and 4'-phosphopantetheine.     

DL-threo-4-fluoroglutamic acid. A chain-terminating inhibitor of folylpolyglutamate synthesis

The effects of 4-fluoroglutamate on the reaction catalyzed by partially purified rat liver folylpolyglutamate synthetase have been investigated. DL-threo-4-Fluoroglutamate was an effective, concentration-dependent inhibitor of polyglutamylation of both tetrahydrofolate and methotrexate, while the erythro isomer was weakly inhibitory. 4-Fluoroglutamate acted as an alternate substrate; the DL-threo isomer was incorporated only slightly less effectively than L-glutamate, while the erythro isomer was poorly incorporated. The resulting product, a pteroylglutamyl-gamma-(4-fluoro)glutamate, was a very poor substrate for further glutamylation. Thus, when tetrahydrofolate and 4-fluoroglutamate were substrates, the sole Zn/HCl cleavage product co-chromatographed on high performance liquid chromatography with chemically synthesized p-aminobenzoylglutamyl-gamma-(4-fluoro)glutamate. When [3H]methotrexate (4-NH2-10-CH3PteGlu) and 4-fluoroglutamate were the substrates, one product was obtained which co-chromatographed on high performance liquid chromatography with chemically synthesized 4-NH2-CH3PteGlu-gamma-(4-fluoro)glutamate. Further evidence that the product from [3H]methotrexate was a dipeptide came from gamma-glutamyl hydrolase digestion experiments and quantitative amino acid analysis. The appearance of trace amounts of a product having properties consistent with the addition of a second 4-fluoroglutamate occurred only under forcing conditions. The chemically and enzymatically synthesized fluoroglutamate-containing products were at least 15 times poorer than the analogous diglutamyl compound as substrates for rat liver folylpolyglutamate synthetase. These results are consistent with inhibition of polyglutamate synthesis by 4-fluoroglutamate through a "leaky" chain termination mechanism.     

Immunological properties of medium-chain acyl-thioester hydrolase and fatty acid synthetase from lactating-rabbit mammary gland.

The cytosol from lactating-rabbit mammary gland contains a medium-chain acyl-thioester hydrolase. This hydrolase terminates chain lengthening of the fatty acids synthesised by fatty acid synthetase so as to release C8:0 and C10:0 fatty acids which are characteristic of rabbit milk. The medium-chain hydrolase and the fatty acid synthetase present in this cytosol have been shown to be immunologically distinct. When fatty acid synthetase was purified from this cytosol it showed unexpected immunological reactivity towards antiserum raised to the medium-chain hydrolase. The precipitate formed was not due to fatty acid synthetase, but to medium-chain hydrolase contaminating the synthetase. However, the proportion of this medium-chain hydrolase which was recovered with the purified synthetase was too small to be detected by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and was too small to elicit an antibody response in sheep. Immunological techniques have shown that the medium-chain hydrolase appears in rabbit mammary gland between days 17 and 22 of pregnancy. This coincides with the onset of milk-fat synthesis. The medium-chain hydrolase could not be detected in the cytosol from lactating-rabbit liver.     

Mammalian fatty acid synthetase is a structurally and functionally symmetrical dimer

We have explored a comprehensive experimental approach to determine whether the two condensing-enzyme active centers of the mammalian fatty acid synthetase are simultaneously functional. Our strategy involved utilization of trypsinized fatty acid synthetase, which is a nicked homodimer composed of two pairs of 125 + 95-kDa polypeptides. These core polypeptides lack the chain-terminating thioesterase domains but retain all other functional domains of the native enzyme and can assemble long-chain acyl moieties at a rate equal to that of the native enzyme. The 4'-phosphopantetheine content of these enzyme preparations, estimated from the amount of beta-alanine present, from the amount of taurine formed by performic acid oxidation and from the amount of carboxymethylcysteamine formed by alkylation with iodo[2-14C]acetate, was typically 0.86 mol/mol 95-kDa polypeptide. The stoichiometry of long-chain acyl-enzyme synthesis, measured with radiolabeled precursors, indicated that 0.84 mol acyl-chains were assembled/mol 95-kDa polypeptide. When the small amount of apoenzyme present is taken into account, this stoichiometry translates to 1.94 acyl chains per holoenzyme dimer. The 125-kDa polypeptide of one subunit could be cross-linked to the 95-kDa polypeptide of the other subunit by 1,3-dibromo-2-propanone yielding a single molecular species of 220 kDa. Cross-linking was accompanied by a loss of condensing-enzyme activity. This result is consistent with a structurally symmetrical model for the animal fatty acid synthetase [J.K. Stoops and S.J. Wakil (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 5128-5133] in which the juxtaposed 4'-phosphopantetheine and cysteine thiols of opposing subunits that form the two potential catalytic centers for condensing activity are readily susceptible to cross-linking. Both half-maximal cross-linking and 50% inhibition of activity were observed with 1 mol 1,3-dibromo-2-propanone bound/mol enzyme. After assembly of long-chain acyl moieties on the 4'-phosphopantetheine residues, no vacant condensing-enzyme active sites were demonstrable either by cross-linking with 1,3-dibromo-2-propanone or by formation of carboxymethylcysteamine on treatment with iodoacetate. These results are consistent with a structurally and functionally symmetrical model for the mammalian fatty acid synthetase in which the two condensation sites are simultaneously active.     

Interaction of rat mammary gland thioesterase II with fatty acid synthetase is dependent on the presence of acyl chains on the synthetase

The interaction between rat mammary gland thioesterase II and fatty acid synthetase has been studied by a variety of physicochemical techniques. Pyrene-labeled thioesterase II does not exhibit increased fluorescence anisotropy when mixed with fatty acid synthetase, suggesting that the enzymes do not readily form a complex. Nevertheless, the functional interaction between the enzymes can be easily demonstrated by observing the hydrolysis, by unmodified thioesterase II, of acyl chains from their thioester linkage to the 4-phosphopantetheine of the fatty acid synthetase. This hydrolytic reaction is not inhibited even in the presence of a large excess of fatty acid synthetase with vacant 4'-phosphopantetheine thiols, indicating that interaction occurs only between thioesterase and fatty acid synthetase species which carry acyl chains on the 4'-phosphopantetheine thiols. A novel model system was devised which allowed us to explore the nature of the physical interaction between the two enzymes under conditions where the synthetase was actively engaged in acyl chain assembly. Fatty acid synthetase was treated with phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride to inhibit its resident thioesterase activity, immobilized via a specific antibody to a column of Sepharose 4B, and exposed to the substrates required for acyl-enzyme assembly. When thioesterase II was introduced to the column, it passed through unretarded even though it efficiently catalyzed hydrolysis of the immobilized S-acyl synthetase en route. These results indicate that the two enzymes associate when an acyl chain is present on the synthetase and that they dissociate rapidly following completion of the catalytic process. Thus, the mammary system differs from that of the avian uropygial gland in which the two enzymes associate to form a stable complex even in the absence of substrates.     

On the 4'-phosphopantetheine content of chicken and rat liver fatty acid synthetases.

The finding that animal synthetases are complexes consisting of two polypeptide chains (Stoops, J.K., Arslanian, M.J., Oh, Y.H., Vanaman, T.C., and Wakil, S.J. (1975) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 72, 1940-1944) led us to investigate their 4'-phosphopantetheine content. We have found that the chicken and rat synthetases contain 1.6 to 2.2 mol of 4'-phosphopantetheine per mol of the complex. The implications of this finding concerning the structure of the complex and the biosynthetic pathway of fatty acid synthesis are discussed.     

Purification and properties of the fatty acids synthetase complex from Neurospora crassa, and the nature of the fas-mutation.

A procedure is described for the purification of the fatty acid synthetase complex (FAS) from Neurospora crassa. The enzyme complex has a molecular weight of 2.3 times 10(6), contains 6 mol of 4'-phosphopantetheine per mol, and on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate gives a single band, or a closely spaced doublet, which comigrates with standard myosin (molecular weight, 2 times 10(5)). Since the slightly retarded component in the doublet accounts for all protein-bound 4'-phosphopantetheine, the complex appears to be made up of 11 to 12 equally sized subunits, 6 of which carry the acyl carrier protein function. In this unusual arrangement, notably the lack of the low-molecular-weight acyl carrier protein component seen in other FAS systems, as well as in its enzymatic properties, the Neurospora FAS complex is quite similar to the yeast enzyme. The FAS complex of a saturated fatty acid-requiring mutant, previously disignated cel-, contains less than 2% of the 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic groups found in the wild-type complex. The leaky phenotype of this mutant, here designated fas-, is accounted for by a residual fatty acid synthesizing activity in its FAS complex, which is several-fold higher than expected from its residual content of 4'-phosphopanthetheine.     

Inhibition of mammalian fatty acid synthetase activity by NADP involves decreased mobility of the 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group

Mammalian fatty acid synthetase carrying a 3-keto, 3-hydroxy, or 2-enoyl acyl-enzyme intermediate on the 4'-phosphopantetheine thiol is reversibly inhibited by binding of NADP to the enoyl reductase domain. Acyl moieties which can normally leave the enzyme by thioester hydrolysis or by transfer to a CoA acceptor cannot readily be removed from the NADP-inhibited enzyme; in addition, 3-keto or 2-enoyl moieties attached to the enzyme 4'-phosphopantetheine cannot readily be reduced when NADP is replaced by NADPH, even though model substrates can be reduced immediately. Reactivation of the NADP-inhibited 3-ketoacyl-enzyme, by exposure to NADPH, is paralleled by reduction and dehydration of the 3-ketoacyl moiety to a saturated acyl moiety without accumulation of either the 3-hydroxy or 2-enoyl acyl-enzyme intermediates, indicating that once the 4'-phosphopantetheine engages the ketoacyl moiety in the ketoreductase domain, subsequent reactions occur very rapidly. The results are consistent with a hypothesis which proposes that NADP binding to the enoyl reductase domain of fatty acid synthetase carrying an acyl intermediate other than a saturated moiety induces a conformational change in the enzyme that results in decreased mobility of the 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group. Normal mobility of the prosthetic group, essential for transfer of acyl-enzyme intermediates through the active sites of the various functional domains, is restored relatively slowly when NADP is replaced by NADPH. It remains to be determined whether this modulation by pyridine nucleotides observed in vitro plays a role in the regulation of fatty acid synthetase activity in vivo.     

A kinetic comparison of partially purified rat liver Golgi and rat serum galactosyltransferases.

UDP-galactose: N-acetylglucosamine beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase was partially purified from rat liver Golgi membranes and rat serum. The kinetic parameters of the two enzymes isolated by affinity chromatography were compared with each other and with those for commercial bovine milk galactosyltransferase. When N-acetyl-glucosamine was the acceptor the Km values for UDP-galactose were 65,52 and 43 microM for the rat liver Golgi, rat serum and bovine milk enzymes respectively. The Km values for N-acetylglucosamine were 0.33, 1.49 and 0.5 mM for the three enzymes respectively. The Km values for UDP-galactose, with glucose as acceptor in the presence of 1 mg of alpha-lactalbumin, were 23, 9.0 and 60 microM for the three enzymes respectively, and the Km values for glucose were 2.3, 1.8 and 2.0 mM respectively. The effects of alpha-lactalbumin in both the lactosamine synthetase and lactose synthetase reactions were similar. The activation energies were 94.0 kJ/mol (22.5 kcal/mol) and 96.0 kJ/mol (22.9 kcal/mol) for the Golgi and serum enzymes respectively. Although some differences in Km values were observed between the rat liver Golgi and serum enzymes, the values obtained suggest a high degree of similarity between the kinetic properties of the three galactosyltransferases.     

Rat mammary-gland fatty acid synthase. A simple purification procedure and stoicheiometry of CoA ester binding.

A simple procedure was devised which allows purification of rat lactating-mammary-gland fatty acid synthase to a high degree of purity, with recoveries of activity exceeding 50%. Over 50 mg of enzyme was isolated from 60 g of mammary tissue. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was about 2.5 mumol of NADPH oxidized/min per mg of protein at 37 degrees. The enzyme appeared homogeneous by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and by immunodiffusion analysis. Each mol (Mr 480 000) of the enzyme bound 3 mol of acetyl and 3-4 mol of malonyl groups when the binding experiments were performed at 0 degrees for 30 s. The presence of NADPH did not influence the binding stoicheiometry for these acyl-CoA derivatives. Approx. 2 mol of taurine was found per mol of the performic acid-oxidized enzyme, suggesting that there were 2 mol of 4'-phosphopantetheine in the native enzyme. Rat mammary-gland fatty acid synthase required free CoA for activity.     

Esterolytic activities of rat intestinal mucosa. 2. Purification and properties of a glycerol-ester hydrolase.

A glycerol-ester hydrolase from rat intestinal cells has been purified using chromatography on carboxyhexanoyl-Sepharose-glyceryldioctanoate and preparative gel electrophoresis. The enzyme gives a single band by analytical gel electrophoresis; it is a monomer of molecular weight 68000. The optimum pH for its action on glyceryl tributyrate is between 8.0 and 8.5; the activation energy was calculated to be 8.7 kcal x mol-1 (36.4 kJ/mol). Its substrate specificity is mainly directed against esters of glycerol and of primary monoalcohols. Similarly to pancreatic lipase but contrary to liver esterase, it is inhibited by bile salts; relief of this inhibition by colipase is only observed for pancreatic lipase. The possible role of the glycerol-ester hydrolase in the absorption of short and of medium chain triglycerides is discussed.     

Effects of experimental hypo- and hyperthyroidism on hepatic long-chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase and hydrolase

The effects of T3 treatment and thyroidectomy on rat liver microsomal long-chain fatty acyl-CoA (LCFA-CoA) synthetase and LCFA-CoA hydrolase activities were determined. Hyperthyroid rats had a 36-42% decrease in LCFA-CoA synthetase with no change in hydrolase activity. This may contribute to the redirection of fatty acids from esterification to oxidation reactions in hyperthyroidism. Thyroidectomized rats had a 40-44% decrease in synthetase and a 27-42% decrease in LCFA-CoA hydrolase activity. The decrease in both LCFA-CoA synthetase and hydrolase activities in hypothyroidism may indicate that the LCFA-CoA turnover in this futile cycle is decreased in the liver.     

Properties of the thioesterase component obtained by limited trypsinization of the fatty acid synthetase multienzyme complex.

The fatty acid synthetase from lactating rat mammary gland is shown to consist of two polyfunctional polypeptides of similar molecular weight (about 220,000); a 4'-phosphopantetheine residue is covalently bound to one, or both subunits. Limited trypsinization of the fatty acid synthetase releases on enzymatically active thioesterase component which has been purified and its properties studied. The thioesterase sediments in the ultracentrifuge as a single component of molecular weight 32,000; its sedimentation coefficient is 2.9 x 10-(13) s its diffusion coefficient 5.0 x 10-(7) cm2 s-(1). The thioesterase also elutes from a column of Sephadex G-75 as a single, symmetrical peak of constant specific activity. However, electrophoresis of the denatured thioesterase in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate reveals that the enzyme has been partially nicked during isolation. The kinetic data of the enzyme reaction were studied using palmityl-CoA as a model substrate. Solvent pH was found to affect both Vmax and Km (Km = 0.5 micron at pH 6.6, 2.5 micron at pH 8.0) wereas solvent ionic strength affected Vmax but no Km. The thioesterases from the fatty acid synthetases of rat liver and lactating mammary gland have identical physical properties, identical amino acid compositions, and are immunologically indistinguishable. Both thioesterases hydrolyze long chain, in preference to short chain, thioesters of CoA, an observation consistent with their role in regulation of the chain-terminating step in fatty acid synthesis by the parent multienzyme complexes.     

Cell-free translation and partial purification of rat liver fatty acid synthetase mRNA.

The cell-free synthesis of rat liver fatty acid synthetase has been demonstrated in a modified reticulocyte lysate translation system. The mRNA was partially purified from membrane-free polysomes by oligo (dT)-cellulose chromatography and subsequent sucrose density gradient centrifugation.     

gamma-Glutamylcysteine synthetase. Further purification, "half of the sites" reactivity, subunits, and specificity.

gamma-Glutamylcysteine synthetase was purified from rat liver by an improved method involving chromatography on Sepharose-aminohexyl-ATP to a specific activity of about 1600 units/mg, or approximately twice that previously obtained; it is thus the most active preparation of this enzyme thus far isolated. The earlier preparation, which is homogeneous on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, exhibits "half of the sites" reactivity in that it binds a maximum of 0.5 mol of the inhibitor L-methionine-S-sulfoximine phosphate per mol of enzyme. In contrast, the present enzyme preparation binds 1 mol of methionine sulfoximine phosphate per mol of enzyme; it also differs from the enzyme obtained earlier in exhibiting much less ATPase activity and less activity in catalyzing ATP-dependent cyclization of glutamate. gamma-Glutamylcysteine synthetase dissociates in sodium dodecyl sulfate into two nonidentical subunits of apparent molecular weights 74,000 and 24,000; after cross-linking with dimethyl-suberimidate, a species having a molecular weight of about 100,000 was found on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. New information has been obtained about the interaction of the enzyme with glutamate analogs; thus, the enzyme is active with such glutamate analogs as beta-glutamate, N-methyl-L-glutamate, and threo-beta-hydroxy-L-glutanate, and it is effectively inhibited by cis-1-amino-1,3-dicarboxycyclonexane, 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate, and gamma-methylglutamate.     

Subunits of fatty acid synthetase complexes. Comparative study of enzyme activities and properties of the half-molecular weight nonidentical subunits of fatty acid synthetase complexes obtained from rat, human, and chicken liver and yeast.

Rat, human, and chicken liver and yeast fatty acid synthetase complexes were dissociated into half-molecular weight nonidentical subunits of molecular weight 225,000–250,000 under the same conditions as used previously for the pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase complex [Lornitzo, F. A., Qureshi, A. A., and Porter, J. W. (1975) J. Biol. Chem.250, 4520–4529]. The separation of the half-molecular weight nonidentical subunits I and II of each fatty acid synthetase was then achieved by affinity chromatography on Sepharose ?-aminocaproyl pantetheine. The separations required, as with the pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase, a careful control of temperature, ionic strength, pH, and column flow rate for success, along with the freezing of the enzyme at ?20 °C prior to the dissociation of the complex and the loading of the subunits onto the column. The separated subunit I (reductase) from each fatty acid synthetase contained β-ketoacyl and crotonyl thioester reductases. Subunit II (transacylase) contained acetyl- and malonyl-coenzyme A: pantetheine transacylases. Each subunit of each complex also contained activities for the partial reactions, β-hydroxyacyl thioester dehydrase (crotonase), and palmitoyl-CoA deacylase. The specific activities of a given partial reaction did not vary in most cases more than twofold from one fatty acid synthetase species to another. The rat and human liver fatty acid synthetases required a much higher ionic strength for stability of their complexes and for the reconstitution of their overall synthetase activity from subunits I and II than did the pigeon liver enzyme. On reconstitution by dialysis in high ionic strength potassium phosphate buffer of subunits I and II of each complex, 65–85% of the control fatty acid synthetase activity was recovered. The rat and human liver fatty acid synthetases cross-reacted on immunoprecipitation with antisera. Similarly, chicken and pigeon liver fatty acid synthetases crossreacted with their antisera. There was, however, no cross-reaction between the mammalian and avian liver fatty acid synthetases and the yeast fatty acid synthetase did not cross-react with any of the liver fatty acid synthetase antisera.