Fatty Acid Desaturase 2 (human recombinant)

Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2), also known as Δ⁶-desaturase, is a 444-amino acid transmembrane protein encoded by FADS2.¹ This product is the N-terminal cytoplasmic domain of FADS2, corresponding to residues 2-131 of the full-length sequence. It catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the conversion of the ω-6 and ω-3 precursors linoleic acid (Item Nos. 90150 | 21909) and α-linolenic acid (Item No. 90210) to their respective long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), inserting a cis double bond at position 6 of the fatty acid chain to convert linoleic acid to γ-linolenic acid (Item No. 90220) and α-linolenic acid to stearidonic acid (Item No. 90320), respectively. Following secondary desaturation by FADS1 (Item No. 25827) and chain elongation, FADS2 catalyzes desaturation of 24-carbon LC-PUFA intermediates. FADS2 also catalyzes the desaturation of palmitic acid (Item No. 10006627) to sapienic acid in human sebaceous glands and in various cancer cell lines that express FADS2.^2,3 Hepatic FADS2 protein levels and mRNA expression are increased in mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).⁴ FADS2 knockout (fads2^-/-) mice are infertile, resistant to obesity, and have altered subcellular membrane diacylglycerol composition which leads to dysregulated post-translational processing of SREBP1c, a key transcription factor in the regulation of lipid metabolism.⁵

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1. Lattka, E., Illig, T., Heinrich, J., et al. FADS gene cluster polymorphisms: Important modulators of fatty acid levels and their impact on atopic diseases. J. Nutrigenet. Nutrigenomics 2(3), 119-128 (2009).

2. Ge, L., Gordon, J.S., Hsuan, C., et al. Identification of the Δ-6 desaturase of human sebaceous glands: Expression and enzyme activity. J. Invest. Dermatol. 120(5), 707-714 (2003).

3. Vriens, K., Christen, S., Parik, S., et al. Evidence for an alternative fatty acid desaturation pathway increasing cancer plasticity. Nature 566(7744), 403-406 (2019).

4. López-Vicario, C., González-Périz, A., Rius, B., et al. Molecular interplay between Δ5/Δ6 desaturases and long-chain fatty acids in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Gut 63(2), 344-355 (2014).

5. Stoffel, W., Hammels, I., Jenke, B., et al. Obesity resistance and deregulation of lipogenesis in Δ6-fatty acid desaturase (FADS2) deficiency. EMBO Rep. 15(1), 110-120 (2014).