Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) but not FADS1 desaturates branched chain and odd chain saturated fatty acids

Branched chain fatty acids (BCFA) and linear chain/normal odd chain fatty acids (n-OCFA) are major fatty acids in human skin lipids, especially sebaceous gland (SG) wax esters. Skin lipids contain variable amounts of monounsaturated BCFA and n-OCFA, in some reports exceeding over 20% of total fatty acids. Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) codes for a multifunctional enzyme that catalyzes Δ4-, Δ6- and Δ8-desaturation towards ten unsaturated fatty acids but only one saturate, palmitic acid, converting it to 16:1n-10; FADS2 is not active towards 14:0 or 18:0. Here we test the hypothesis that FADS2 also operates on BCFA and n-OCFA. MCF-7 cancer cells stably expressing FADS1 or FADS2 along with empty vector control cells were incubated with anteiso-15:0, iso-16:0, iso-17:0, anteiso-17:0, iso-18:0, or n-17:0. BCFA were Δ6-desaturated by FADS2 as follows: iso-16:0 → iso-6Z-16:1, iso-17:0 → iso-6Z-17:1, anteiso-17:0 → anteiso-6Z-17:1 and iso-18:0 → iso-6Z-18:1. anteiso-15:0 was not desaturated in either FADS1 or FADS2 cells. n-17:0 was converted to both n-6Z-17:1 by FADS2 Δ6-desaturation and n-9Z-17:1 by SCD Δ9-desaturation. We thus establish novel FADS2-coded enzymatic activity towards BCFA and n-OCFA, expanding the number of known FADS2 saturated fatty acid substrates from one to six. Because of the importance of FADS2 in human skin, our results imply that dysfunction in activity of sebaceous FADS2 may play a role in skin abnormalities associated with skin lipids. •FADS2 desaturases 10 unsaturated fatty acids but only one saturate, 16:0.•iso-16:0, iso-17:0, iso-18:0, and anteiso-17:0 are Δ6-desaturated by FADS2.•n-17:0 is desaturated by both FADS2 Δ6 and SCD Δ9.•FADS2 has no action on anteiso-15:0.•FADS1 shows no activity towards any of the tested branched or odd chain saturates.