Long-chain acyl coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) synthetase isoform 1 (ACSL1) catalyzes the synthesis of acyl-CoA from long-chain fatty acids and contributes the majority of cardiac long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase activity. To understand its functional role in the heart, we studied mice lacking ACSL1 globally (Acsl1 T؊/؊ ) and mice lacking ACSL1 in heart ventricles (Acsl1 H؊/؊ ) at different times. Compared to littermate controls, heart ventricular ACSL activity in Acsl1 T؊/؊ mice was reduced more than 90%, acyl-CoA content was 65% lower, and long-chain acyl-carnitine content was 80 to 90% lower. The rate of [ 14 C]palmitate oxidation in both heart homogenate and mitochondria was 90% lower than in the controls, and the maximal rates of [ 14 C]pyruvate and [ 14 C]glucose oxidation were each 20% higher. The mitochondrial area was 54% greater than in the controls with twice as much mitochondrial DNA, and the mRNA abundance of Pgc1␣ and Err␣ increased by 100% and 41%, respectively. Compared to the controls, Acsl1 T؊/؊ and Acsl1 H؊/؊ hearts were hypertrophied, and the phosphorylation of S6 kinase, a target of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase, increased 5-fold. Our data suggest that ACSL1 is required to synthesize the acyl-CoAs that are oxidized by the heart, and that without ACSL1, diminished fatty acid (FA) oxidation and compensatory catabolism of glucose and amino acids lead to mTOR activation and cardiac hypertrophy without lipid accumulation or immediate cardiac dysfunction.The mitochondrial oxidation of long-chain fatty acids (FAs) provides 60 to 90% of heart ATP (9, 43, 49). Reduced cardiac FA oxidation and increased glucose utilization are a proposed consequence of pathological left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (22,33). However, when genes that encode enzymes of FA oxidation are knocked out in mice, LVH develops (11,20). Thus, it remains unclear whether the shift in substrate use is a cause or consequence of cardiac hypertrophy and whether the increased use of glucose interferes with cardiac function.Long-chain acyl coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) synthetase (ACSL) isoenzymes convert FAs to acyl coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) in an ATP-dependent manner, simultaneously activating and trapping FAs within cells (4). Activation to acyl-CoA is required before FAs can be either oxidized to provide ATP or esterified to synthesize triacylglycerol (TAG) or membrane phospholipids (PL). The activation of FA is catalyzed by one of a family of five long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSLs), long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase isoform 1 (ACSL1), ACSL3, ACSL4, ACSL5, and ACSL6, which differ in substrate preference, enzyme kinetics, subcellular location, and tissue-specific expression (10). Because amphipathic acyl-CoAs can move freely within a membrane monolayer or be transported to distant membranes, all acyl-CoAs should, theoretically, be metabolically equivalent, no matter which ACSL isoenzyme catalyzes their formation and no matter which subcellular organelle is the site of their synthesis. Yet, both loss-of-function and gainof-function studies s...