Nature's Tiny Factories: Fatty Acid Synthesis and Assembly Line Enzymes

Video Description

Pallas Chou and Harrison Ngue created this video as a resource for Chemistry 27: Organic Chemistry of Life at Harvard University in Spring 2022, taught by Professor Emily Balskus. In this organic chemistry animation, we take a look at one of the most beautiful enzyme mechanisms: assembly line machinery, including fatty acid synthesis (FAS), polyketide synthesis (PKS), and non-ribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS). Natural product biosynthesis and fatty acid synthesis in the context of assembly line enzymology can be a tricky mechanism to understand, so we take a look at it in an organic chemistry context. You will see how the core ideas of fatty acid synthesis can be "discovered" through asking the right questions, such as determining that acetyl CoA and malonyl CoA serve as building blocks to make fatty acids. Contents: 0:00 Introduction 1:20 Chemical Logic 5:53 Fatty Acid Synthesis 12:27 Polyketide Synthesis 13:37 Non-Ribosomal Peptide Synthesis 16:27 Recap Special thanks to Emily Balskus, Tim Brunker, and Anne Marie Crooke for their editing assistance and continued support. These organic chemistry animations are largely made using Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects, along with minor use of 3blue1brown's custom Python library, manim. The animation for the non-ribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS) was created by Michael W. Mullowney, at https://michaelmullowney.com/. All credits go to him. The following adjustments were made to the animation during this video: • Change of colors • Speed/pausing/tempo of animation • Changed the T domain to PCP domain • Labeling of the modules • Clarified role of Cy domain with text • Added the Epimerization tailoring domain • Highlighted certain parts of the mechanism • Zooming in to emphasize certain aspects Music: Pure Water by Meydän Link: https://youtu.be/BU85yzb0nMU Forever Sunrise - by Jonny Easton Link: https://youtu.be/9Xndx7nhGAs Check out his channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/jonnyeaston ------------------ Powerhouse of the Cell (formerly Primo Science), founded by Harrison Ngue, aims to teach science using animation and a visuals-first approach. If you want to stay posted on new videos, subscribe. Though this channel does not yet have Patreon, an equally valuable form of support is to simply share the videos! Twitter: https://twitter.com/Powerhouse_YT