Macro partitioning
FAT/CD36 (CD36) facilitates long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) uptake into skeletal muscle mitochondria, a process distinct from and potentially upstream of the Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase I (CPTI) system.
Your muscles use a protein called CD36 to move fatty acids into the mitochondria to be burned for energy. This process is crucial for endurance and metabolic health. While you cannot directly 'dose' CD36 like a supplement, regular exercise (both acute and chronic) increases the amount of CD36 in your mitochondria, thereby enhancing your muscle's ability to oxidize fat. This suggests that training improves your body's efficiency in using fat as fuel.
Together, these data suggest a role for FAT/CD36 in mitochondrial long chain fatty acid uptake and demonstrate system flexibility to match FAT/CD36 mitochondrial content with an increased capacity for fatty acid oxidation, possibly involving translocation of FAT/CD36 to the mitochondria.
Why this rating
High-quality in vitro and in vivo rat studies with rigorous controls, though translated to humans requires caution.
Source
A Novel Function for Fatty Acid Translocase (FAT)/CD36
Shannon E. Campbell et al. · Journal of Biological Chemistry · 2004
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