<Li> Acyl - carnitine is shuttled inside by a carnitine - acylcarnitine translocase, as a carnitine is shuttled outside . </Li> <Li> Acyl - carnitine is converted back to acyl - CoA by carnitine palmitoyltransferase II, located on the interior face of the inner mitochondrial membrane . The liberated carnitine is shuttled back to the cytosol, as an acyl - CoA is shuttled into the matrix . </Li> <Ul> <Li> Beta oxidation, in the mitochondrial matrix, then cuts the long carbon chains of the fatty acids (in the form of acyl - CoA molecules) into a series of two - carbon (acetate) units, which, combined with co-enzyme A, form molecules of acetyl CoA, which condense with oxaloacetate to form citrate at the "beginning" of the citric acid cycle . It is convenient to think of this reaction as marking the "starting point" of the cycle, as this is when fuel - acetyl - CoA - is added to the cycle, which will be dissipated as CO and H O with the release of a substantial quantity of energy captured in the form of ATP, during the course of each turn of the cycle . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Beta oxidation, in the mitochondrial matrix, then cuts the long carbon chains of the fatty acids (in the form of acyl - CoA molecules) into a series of two - carbon (acetate) units, which, combined with co-enzyme A, form molecules of acetyl CoA, which condense with oxaloacetate to form citrate at the "beginning" of the citric acid cycle . It is convenient to think of this reaction as marking the "starting point" of the cycle, as this is when fuel - acetyl - CoA - is added to the cycle, which will be dissipated as CO and H O with the release of a substantial quantity of energy captured in the form of ATP, during the course of each turn of the cycle . </Li>

Where does fatty acid oxidation occur in the cell