title: A nucleotide insertion in the transcriptional regulatory region of FADS2 gives rise to human fatty acid delta-6-desaturase deficiency.
abstract: Fatty acid delta-6-desaturase (FADS2) is the rate-limiting enzyme in mammalian synthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. We investigated the molecular mechanism of FADS2 deficiency in skin fibroblasts from a patient deficient in this enzyme. Expression analyses demonstrated an 80% to 90% decrease in the steady-state level of FADS2 mRNA in patient-derived cells compared with normal controls that was consistent with previous metabolic biochemical studies. In vitro transcription assays indicated an 80% decrease in the rate of transcriptional initiation in patient-derived cells, thus implicating transcriptional regulation as the mechanism for the decreased transcript levels. Sequence analysis of the 5' end of the gene revealed the insertion of a thymidine between positions -941 and -942 upstream of the translation start site in patient-derived cells compared with normal cells and published sequences. Promoter-reporter assays demonstrated a 6-fold decrease in promoter activity in the polymorphic variant FADS2 regulatory region compared with the normal gene, confirming the functional relevance of the insertion mutation to the decreased expression of the gene in the patient-derived cells. These findings indicate that fatty acid delta-6-desaturase deficiency and decreased FADS2 transcription are caused by a nucleotide insertion in the transcriptional regulatory region of the human FADS2 gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Nwankwo
authors.forename: Arthur A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Spector
authors.forename: Frederick E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Domann
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics*; D005347:Fibroblasts; D006801:Humans; D050602:Linoleoyl-CoA Desaturase; D051379:Mice; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D020871:RNA Stability; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; D050602:Linoleoyl-CoA Desaturase