Medium-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase is one of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases that catalyze the first step of mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation, an aerobic process breaking down fatty acids into acetyl-CoA and allowing the production of energy from fats (PubMed:
1970566, PubMed:
8823175, PubMed:
21237683, PubMed:
2251268). The first step of fatty acid beta-oxidation consists in the removal of one hydrogen from C-2 and C-3 of the straight-chain fatty acyl-CoA thioester, resulting in the formation of trans-2-enoyl-CoA (PubMed:
2251268). Electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) is the electron acceptor that transfers electrons to the main mitochondrial respiratory chain via ETF-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF dehydrogenase) (PubMed:
25416781, PubMed:
15159392). Among the different mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenases, medium-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase acts specifically on acyl-CoAs with saturated 6 to 12 carbons long primary chains (PubMed:
1970566, PubMed:
8823175, PubMed:
21237683, PubMed:
2251268).
