Acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to form malonylCoA. In mammals, two isozymes exist with distinct physiological roles: cytosolic ACC1 participates in de novo lipogenesis (DNL), and mitochondrial ACC2 is involved in negative regulation of mitochondrial -oxidation. Since systemic ACC1 null mice were embryonic lethal, to clarify the physiological role of ACC1 in hepatic DNL, we generated the liver-specific ACC1 null mouse by crossbreeding of an Acc1 lox(ex46) mouse, in which exon 46 of Acc1 was flanked by two loxP sequences and the liver-specific Cre transgenic mouse. In liver-specific ACC1 null mice, neither hepatic Acc1 mRNA nor protein was detected. However, to compensate for ACC1 function, hepatic ACC2 protein and activity were induced 1.4 and 2.2 times, respectively. Surprisingly, hepatic DNL and malonyl-CoA were maintained at the same physiological levels as in wild-type mice. Furthermore, hepatic DNL was completely inhibited by an ACC1/2 dual inhibitor, 5-tetradecyloxyl-2-furancarboxylic acid. These results strongly demonstrate that malonyl-CoA from ACC2 can access fatty acid synthase and become the substrate for the DNL pathway under the unphysiological circumstances that result with ACC1 disruption. Therefore, there does not appear to be strict compartmentalization of malonyl-CoA from either of the ACC isozymes in the liver.Acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to form malonyl-CoA, which is a key molecule in the control of intracellular fatty acid metabolism (13,16,27). ACC has two major isozymes that have different physiological roles based on their distinct subcellular distributions (2). A cytosolic enzyme, ACC1 (ACC␣; molecular mass, 265 kDa), supplies malonyl-CoA to fatty acid synthase (FAS) and is committed to de novo lipogenesis (DNL) in many tissues via subsequent nutritional and hormonal regulation (3,16,27). In contrast, ACC2 (ACC; molecular mass, 280 kDa) is anchored to the mitochondrial surface via a unique N-terminal domain that includes 20 hydrophobic amino acids (1, 2). ACC2 produces malonyl-CoA on the mitochondrial surface. It is well known that malonylCoA is a potent endogenous inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT-1), which is also located on the mitochondrial surface (21, 26). Thus, ACC2 indirectly prevents the influx of fatty acids into the mitochondria and their subsequent -oxidation (4).ACC1 is ubiquitously expressed in many tissues, but higher levels occur in lipogenic tissues, including the liver and adipose tissue (8). In fact, in animals, Acc1 gene expression and ACC activity are markedly induced either by high carbohydrate feeding or hyperinsulinemia in animals and result in increases in adiposity, lipoprotein secretion, and hepatic fat content (16). It is expected that ACC1 blockade should reduce flux through the DNL pathway in lipogenic tissues and thus reduce adiposity, lipoprotein secretion, and fatty liver (11,23). It is therefore plausible that ACC1 inh...