Isolation and separation of individual long-chain acyl-coenzyme A esters Original Research Article

The isolation of intact long-chain acyl-coenzyme A (acyl Co A) esters is best accomplished by extraction of frozen powdered tissue by the procedure of Mancha et al. [Anal. Biochem. 68 (1975) 600], and the separation of the esters by reverse phase HPLC. The concentration of individual esters identified in various tissues reflect the metabolic state of the animal as well as the influence of dietary fat. This review discusses a number of modifications as well as the basic procedure that have increased the sensitivity and permitted quantitative identification of long-chain acyl-Co A esters. Overall, the method described has been instrumental in the quantitative analysis of tissue acyl-Co A esters and the development of the concept of long-chain acyl-Co A esters as signaling molecules in cellular metabolism.