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Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)—fatty acids containing multiple double bonds within their carbon chain—are an indispensable component of the cell membrane. PUFAs, including the omega-6 PUFA arachidonic acid (ARA; C20:4n-6) and the omega-3 PUFAs eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; C20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6n-3), have been implicated in various (patho)physiological events. These PUFAs are either obtained from the diet or biosynthesized from the essential fatty acids linoleic acid (LA; C18:2n-6) and α-linolenic acid (ALA; C18:3n-3) via enzymatic reactions that are catalyzed by fatty acid elongases (ELOVL2 and ELOVL5) and fatty acid desaturases (FADS1 and FADS2). In this review, we summarize the recent literature studying the role of PUFAs, placing a special emphasis on the newly discovered functions of PUFAs and their biosynthetic pathway as revealed by studies using animal models targeting the PUFA biosynthetic pathway and genetic approaches including genome-wide association studies. • PUFAs are an indispensable component of the cell membrane. • PUFA deficiency can be achieved by genetic inhibition of PUFA-synthesizing enzymes. • Disruption of the PUFA biosynthetic pathway causes a wide variety of human diseases. • PUFA-manipulated animal models are useful for studying PUFA-related diseases.
Lee et al. (Tue,) studied this question.