title: The product of the MLD gene is a member of the membrane fatty acid desaturase family: overexpression of MLD inhibits EGF receptor biosynthesis.
abstract: Membrane fatty acid desaturases are responsible for inserting double bonds into specific positions in fatty acids. We have cloned a new member of the human membrane fatty acid (lipid) desaturase gene family, MLD. The derived amino acid sequence of MLD contains three consensus motifs, HX3H, HX2HH, and HX2HHXFP, that are characteristic of a group of membrane fatty acid desaturases. MLD is predicted to be a multiple membrane-spanning protein and is found to be extractable from particulate fractions with detergent but not salt or urea. MLD is widely expressed in human tissues and is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. Cotransfection of MLD with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor resulted in decreased expression of the receptor but did not affect platelet-derived growth factor receptor expression. MLD overexpression inhibited biosynthesis of the EGF receptor, suggesting a possible role of a fatty acid desaturase in regulating biosynthetic processing of the EGF receptor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0650, USA. dcadena@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Cadena
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kurten
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; C106615:DEGS1 protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors