Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2), also known as 6-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 -6 and -3 precursors linoleic acid (Item Nos. 90150 | 21909) and -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 -linolenic acid (Item No. 90220) and -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.5Technical InformationSynonymsAcyl-CoA 6-DesaturaseD6DDES6EC 1.14.19.3FADS2FADSD66 Fatty Acid DesaturaseLinoleoyl-CoA Desaturase (6-Desaturase)-Like 2LLCDL2SLL0262TU13Purity95% estimated by SDS-PAGESourceRecombinant N-terminal His-tagged FADS2 N-terminal domain purified from E. coliAmino Acids2-131MW16.99 kDaFormulation50 mM HEPES, pH 8.0, with 150 mM sodium chloride and 10% glycerolUniProt Accession O95864S