Very long chain fatty acids derived from docosahexaenoic acid by the action of fatty acid elongases are important in retinal development and macular diseases.
1,2,3 These fatty acids are commonly incorporated into the
sn-
1 position of membrane phospholipids, predominantly phosphatidylcholine, and are involved in binding the photoreceptor rhodopsin.
1. Agbaga, M.P., Mandal, M.N.A., and Anderson, R.E. Retinal very long-chain PUFAs: New insights from studies on ELOVL4 protein J. Lipid Res. 51(7),1624-1642(2010).
2. McMahon, A., Jackson, S.N., Woods, A.S., et al. A Stargardt disease-3 mutation in the mouse Elovl4 gene causes retinal deficiency of C32-C36 acyl phosphatidylcholines FEBS Lett. 581(28),5459-5463(2007).
3. Bedell, M., Harkewicz, R., Wang, X., et al. Focus on molecules: ELOVL4 Exp. Eye Res. 90(4),476-477(2010).
