In enzymology, a butyrate-CoA ligase is an enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 that catalyzes

Catalysis

Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....

 the chemical reaction

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...

ATP + an acid + CoA AMP + diphosphate + an acyl-CoA

The 3 substrates

Substrate (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions involving the substrate. In the case of a single substrate, the substrate binds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed. The substrate is transformed into one or...

 of this enzyme are ATP

Adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleoside triphosphate used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism...

, acid

Acid

An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

, and CoA

Coenzyme A

Coenzyme A is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All sequenced genomes encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a substrate, and around 4% of cellular enzymes use it as a substrate...

, whereas its 3 products

Product (chemistry)

Product are formed during chemical reactions as reagents are consumed. Products have lower energy than the reagents and are produced during the reaction according to the second law of thermodynamics. The released energy comes from changes in chemical bonds between atoms in reagent molecules and...

 are AMP

Adenosine monophosphate

Adenosine monophosphate , also known as 5'-adenylic acid, is a nucleotide that is used as a monomer in RNA. It is an ester of phosphoric acid and the nucleoside adenosine. AMP consists of a phosphate group, the sugar ribose, and the nucleobase adenine...

, diphosphate, and acyl-CoA

Acyl-CoA

Acyl-CoA is a group of coenzymes involved in the metabolism of fatty acids. It is a temporary compound formed when coenzyme A attaches to the end of a long-chain fatty acid inside living cells. The compound undergoes beta oxidation, forming one or more molecules of acetyl-CoA...

.

This enzyme belongs to the family of ligase

Ligase

In biochemistry, ligase is an enzyme that can catalyse the joining of two large molecules by forming a new chemical bond, usually with accompanying hydrolysis of a small chemical group dependent to one of the larger molecules...

s, specifically those forming carbon-sulfur bonds as acid-thiol ligases. The systematic name of this enzyme class is butanoate:CoA ligase (AMP-forming). Other names in common use include butyryl-CoA synthetase, fatty acid thiokinase (medium chain), acyl-activating enzyme, fatty acid elongase, fatty acid activating enzyme, fatty acyl coenzyme A synthetase, medium chain acyl-CoA synthetase, butyryl-coenzyme A synthetase, L-(+)-3-hydroxybutyryl CoA ligase, and short-chain acyl-CoA synthetase. This enzyme participates in butanoate metabolism.