Polyunsaturated fatty acid regulation of gene expression

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), specifically the n-3 and n-6 series, p lay a key role in the progression or prevention of human diseases such as o besity, diabetes, cancer, neurological and heart disease, mainly by affecti ng cellular membrane lipid composition, metabolism, signal-transduction pat hways, and by direct control of gene expression. PUFAs show regulation of g ene expression in several tissues, including brain, liver, heart, and adipo se. Most recently, research has focused on identifying the mechanisms by wh ich PUFAs regulate lipogenic gene expression. Research to date indicates th at PUFA-mediated regulation of the genetic expression and proteolytic matur ation of a group of transcription factors termed sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) accounts for the suppression of hepatic lipogenic gene expression. However, our recent studies on the transcriptional regula tion of the stearoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) desaturase gene, encoding a key enzym e in the cellular synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated f atty acids indicates that PUFA can suppress gene transcription by a mechani sm independent of SREBP maturation.