The role of citrate as a physiological modulator of mammalian acetyl-CoA carboxylases (ACCs) has been well studied; however, the mechanism has not been clearly defined. In the current study, we found that citrate activated recombinant human ACC2 by more than
1000-fold, but activated recombinant human ACC1 only by
4-fold. The data fit best to a model which accounts for cooperative binding of two citrate molecules. Citrate activates ACCs at lower concentrations and inhibits at higher concentrations with apparent
Kd values of 0.8 ± 0.3 and 3.4 ± 0.6 mM, and apparent
Ki values of 20 ± 8 and 38 ± 8 mM for ACC1 and ACC2, respectively. In the absence of added citrate, both ACC1 and ACC2 were inactivated by avidin rapidly and completely. Addition of 10 mM citrate protected ACC2 from avidin inactivation; however, protection by citrate was less pronounced for ACC1. In response to citrate treatment, different aggregation patterns for the two isoforms were also observed by dynamic light scattering. Although formation of aggregates by both isoforms was sensitive to citrate, with Mg
2+ and Mg-citrate addition only formation of the ACC2 aggregates showed a dependence on citrate concentration.