What is lysine acetylation?

Lysine acetylation is the transfer of an acetyl group from Acetyl-CoA to the primary amine in the ε-position of the lysine side chain within a protein. This process leads to neutralization of the position’s positive electrostatic charge.

Lysine acetylated proteins are involved in the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, secondary metabolites, nucleotides, amino acids, and xenobiotics. In addition, acetylation regulates the relative activities of key enzymes controlling the course of glycolysis versus gluconeogenesis, as well as the branching between the citrate cycle and glyoxylate bypass.