Definition

Involved in the biosynthesis of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) from the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) linoleic acid (LA) (18:2n-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (18:3n-3) precursors, acting as a fatty acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) desaturase that introduces a cis double bond at carbon 6 of the fatty acyl chain. Catalyzes the first and rate limiting step in this pathway which is the desaturation of LA (18:2n-6) and ALA (18:3n-3) into gamma-linoleate (GLA) (18:3n-6) and stearidonate (18:4n-3), respectively. Subsequently, in the biosynthetic pathway of HUFA n-3 series, it desaturates tetracosapentaenoate (24:5n-3) to tetracosahexaenoate (24:6n-3), which is then converted to docosahexaenoate (DHA)(22:6n-3), an important lipid for nervous system function (By similarity). Desaturates hexadecanate (palmitate) to produce 6Z-hexadecenoate (sapienate), a fatty acid unique to humans and major component of human sebum, that has been implicated in the development of acne and may have potent antibacterial activity. It can also desaturate (11E)-octadecenoate (trans-vaccenoate, the predominant trans fatty acid in human milk) at carbon 6 generating (6Z,11E)-octadecadienoate (By similarity). In addition to Delta-6 activity, this enzyme exhibits Delta-8 activity with slight biases toward n-3 fatty acyl-CoA substrates (By similarity).