Discovering Acetyl-CoA and the rest of the fatty acid cycle

Feodor Lynen
© Archive of the Max Planck Society,
 Dahlem, Berlin

Feodor Lynen, a German biochemist, devoted his career to researching metabolic processes. While studying with Heinrich Wieland, Lynen started looking into acetic acid metabolism. In yeast experiments they noted the Kreb's cycle did not explain all of metabolites found, and the conversion of acetic acid into citric acid was more complicated than originally thought. Lynen proposed that acetic acid was converted to an "activated acetic acid", but experiments couldn't prove he was right until after World War II when communication opened up between Germany and the rest of the world. Acetyl-coA had been discovered, but its isolation was impure and had a number of disulfide contaminants. Lynen was struck with the idea that acetyl-CoA was a thioester and went on to isolate and prove that this was the "activated acetic acid" he had proposed. Lynen determined the remainder of the fatty acid cycle and was rewarded with a Nobel prize.

• Acetyl CoA Paper

Lynen's Nobel Lecture