Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and arachidonic acid are essential fatty acids for humans. PUFAs are biosynthesized by either desaturases/elongases from oleic acid or PUFA synthases from acetyl units. PUFA synthases are composed of three or four subunits, and each creates a specific PUFA even though the multiple catalytic domains in each subunit are very similar. We recently dissected these PUFA synthases by in vivo and in vitro experiments and elucidated how the enzymes control PUFA profiles. Moreover, for the first time, we converted a practical microalgal docosahexaenoic acid synthase into an eicosapentaenoic acid synthase based on the results.

中文翻译：

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多不饱和脂肪酸合酶功能分析的最新进展。

多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）如二十二碳六烯酸、二十碳五烯酸和花生四烯酸是人类必需的脂肪酸。PUFA 由来自油酸的去饱和酶/延伸酶或来自乙酰基单元的 PUFA 合酶生物合成。PUFA 合酶由三个或四个亚基组成，每个亚基都会产生一个特定的 PUFA，即使每个亚基中的多个催化域非常相似。我们最近通过体内和体外实验剖析了这些 PUFA 合酶，并阐明了这些酶如何控制 PUFA 谱。此外，我们首次将实用的微藻二十二碳六烯酸合酶转化为二十碳五烯酸合酶。