A Tutorial on Fatty Acid Biology

Fatty acids are an extraordinarily diverse set of molecules that serve as sources of fuel, key components of cell structure, and parent molecules for bioactive second messengers. The metabolism of fatty acids is part of a delicate homeostasis that is fundamental to normal functioning and the response to pathophysiologic insult. The growing body of evidence on nutrition demonstrates that we truly “are what we eat,” and the fatty acid content of our diets has far-reaching physiologic implications, many of which we are only beginning to understand. As the gap between basic science and patient care becomes increasingly narrow, clinicians should have a working knowledge of fatty acid biology. This tutorial provides an overview of fatty acid biology with the goal of increasing comfort in discussing how these heterogeneous molecules are classified and metabolized, in addition to how fatty acid content influences basic cellular processes.