Enoyl-Co A Hydratase

Enoyl-Co A Hydratase

Enoyl-CoA hydratase is an enzyme that hydrates the double bond between the second and third carbons on acyl-CoA. This enzyme, also known as crotonase, is essential to metabolizing fatty acids to produce both acetyl CoA and energy. Note the crystal structure at right of enoyl-coa hydratase from a rat. The crystal structure shows a hexamer formation (not universal, but human enzyme is also hexameric), which leads to the efficiency of this protein. This enzyme has been discovered to be highly efficient, and allows our bodies to metabolize fatty acids into energy very quickly. In fact this enzyme is so efficient that the rate is equivalent to that of diffusion-controlled reactions.