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Mammalian fatty acid elongases.

ABSTRACT: Very long chain fatty acids confer functional diversity on cells by variations in their chain length and degree of unsaturation. Microsomal fatty acid elongation represents the major pathway for determining the chain length of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in cellular lipids. The overall reaction for fatty acid elongation involves four enzymes and utilizes malonyl CoA, NADPH, and fatty acyl CoA as substrates. While the fundamental pathway and its requirements have been known for many years, recent advances have revealed a family of enzymes involved in the first step of the reaction, i.e., the condensation reaction. Seven fatty acid elongase subtypes (Elovl #1-7) have been identified in the mouse, rat, and human genomes. These enzymes determine the rate of overall fatty acid elongation. Moreover, these enzymes also display differential substrate specificity, tissue distribution, and regulation, making them important regulators of cellular lipid composition as well as specific cellular functions. Herein, methods are described to measure elongase activity, analyze elongation products, and alter cellular elongase expression.

SUBMITTER: Jump DB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2764369 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mammalian fatty acid elongases.

Jump Donald B DB

Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 20090101

Very long chain fatty acids confer functional diversity on cells by variations in their chain length and degree of unsaturation. Microsomal fatty acid elongation represents the major pathway for determining the chain length of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in cellular lipids. The overall reaction for fatty acid elongation involves four enzymes and utilizes malonyl CoA, NADPH, and fatty acyl CoA as substrates. While the fundamental pathway and its requirements have b ...[more]

PMID: 19763486

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Project description:Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan parasite belonging to the phylum Amoebozoa that causes amebiasis, a global public health problem. E. histolytica alternates its form between a proliferative trophozoite and a dormant cyst. Trophozoite proliferation is closely associated with amebiasis symptoms and pathogenesis whereas cysts transmit the disease. Drugs are available for clinical use; however, they have issues of adverse effects and dual targeting of disease symptoms and transmission remains to be improved. Development of new drugs is therefore urgently needed. An untargeted lipidomics analysis recently revealed structural uniqueness of the Entamoeba lipidome at different stages of the parasite's life cycle involving very long (26-30 carbons) and/or medium (8-12 carbons) acyl chains linked to glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Here, we investigated the physiology of this unique acyl chain diversity in Entamoeba, a non-photosynthetic protist. We characterized E. histolytica fatty acid elongases (EhFAEs), which are typically components of the fatty acid elongation cycle of photosynthetic protists and plants. An approach combining genetics and lipidomics revealed that EhFAEs are involved in the production of medium and very long acyl chains in E. histolytica. This approach also showed that the K3 group herbicides, flufenacet, cafenstrole, and fenoxasulfone, inhibited the production of very long acyl chains, thereby impairing Entamoeba trophozoite proliferation and cyst formation. Importantly, none of these three compounds showed toxicity to a human cell line; therefore, EhFAEs are reasonable targets for developing new anti-amebiasis drugs and these compounds are promising leads for such drugs. Interestingly, in the Amoebazoan lineage, gain and loss of the genes encoding two different types of fatty acid elongase have occurred during evolution, which may be relevant to parasite adaptation. Acyl chain diversity in lipids is therefore a unique and indispensable feature for parasitic adaptation of Entamoeba.

Dataset Information

Mammalian fatty acid elongases.

Publications

Mammalian fatty acid elongases.

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