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Coenzyme
Q10: from Biochemistry to Medicine.
G.P. Littarru
Introductory remarks
In 1957 a yellow compound was isolated from the heart
mitochodria in the laboratories of the Enzyme Institute of
the University of Wisconsin, directed by Dr. D. Green.
Dr. Karl Folkers had received a few milligrams of the
crystalline substance from Dr. Crane, and determined the
structure of that compound, which resulted in
2,3,dimethoxyl-5-methyl-6-decaprenil-1,4-benzoquinone.The
compound was named coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), since it had a
coenzymatic activity in the enzyme systems of mitochondria,
where its essential role for the bioenergetics of
respiration was soon recognised. It is a lipid, from a
chemical point of view; the letter Q underlines its
quinonic group; the figure 10 defines the number of
isoprenoid units in its sidechain.
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