Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) is encoded by the ''FADS2''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

, the associated enzyme is sometimes known as FADS2 as well. Its main associated enzyme is

Delta 6 desaturase In enzymology, a linoleoyl-CoA desaturase (also Delta 6 desaturase, ) is an enzyme that converts between types of fatty acids, which are essential nutrients in the human body. The enzyme mainly catalyzes the chemical reaction :linoleoyl-CoA + ...

(D6D) however the human enzyme been shown to also catalyze some delta-8 and delta-4 desaturases despite naming conventions.

Function

Fatty acid desaturase 2 is a member of the

fatty acid desaturase A fatty acid desaturase is an enzyme that removes two hydrogen atoms from a fatty acid, creating a carbon/carbon double bond. These desaturases are classified as: * Delta - indicating that the double bond is created at a fixed position from the ...

(FADS) gene family. Desaturase enzymes cause desaturation of

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, fr ...

s through the introduction of double bonds between defined carbons of the fatty acyl chain. FADS family members are considered fusion products composed of an

N-terminal The N-terminus (also known as the amino-terminus, NH2-terminus, N-terminal end or amine-terminus) is the start of a protein or polypeptide, referring to the free amine group (-NH2) located at the end of a polypeptide. Within a peptide, the ami ...

cytochrome b5 Cytochromes ''b''5 are ubiquitous electron transport hemoproteins found in animals, plants, fungi and purple phototrophic bacteria. The microsomal and mitochondrial variants are membrane-bound, while bacterial and those from erythrocytes and o ...

-like domain and a

C-terminal The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein or polypeptide), terminated by a free carboxyl group (-COOH). When the protein is ...

multiple membrane-spanning desaturase portion, both of which are characterized by conserved

histidine Histidine (symbol His or H) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated –NH3+ form under biological conditions), a carboxylic acid group (which is in the de ...

motifs. This gene is clustered with family members

FADS1 Fatty acid desaturase 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''FADS1'' gene. Function The protein encoded by the FADS1 gene is a member of the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene family and desaturates omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated ...

and FADS2 at 11q12-q13.1; this cluster is thought to have arisen evolutionarily from gene duplication based on its similar exon/intron organization.

Clinical significance

It was reported the ''FADS2'' interacts with

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that br ...

such that breast-fed children with the "C" version of the gene appear about 7

intelligence quotient An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzqu ...

(IQ) points higher than those with the less common "G" version (less than this when adjusted for maternal IQ).Gene governs IQ boost from breastfeeding
An attempt to replicate this study in 5934 8-year-old children failed: No relationship of the common C allele to negative effects of formula feeding was apparent, and contra to the original report, the rare GG homozygote children performed worse when formula fed than other children on formula milk. A study of over 700 families recently found no evidence for either main or moderating effects of the original SNP (rs174575), nor of two additional ''FADS2'' polymorphisms (rs1535 and rs174583), nor any effect of maternal ''FADS2'' status on offspring IQ.

Function

Clinical significance

References

Further reading