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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2000//707 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 149, Number 3, , 2000 707-718

Role of a New Mammalian Gene Family in the Biosynthesis of Very Long Chain Fatty Acids and Sphingolipids

^a The Wenner-Gren Institute, The Arrhenius Laboratories F3, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
^b Department of Microbiology, Sanofi Recherche, Labège Innopole BP137, F-31676 Labège Cédex, France
The Wenner-Gren Institute, The Arrhenius Laboratories F3, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.+46-8-156756+46-8-164127

anders.jacobsson{at}wgi.su.se

Whereas the physiological significance of microsomal fatty acid elongation is generally appreciated, its molecular nature is poorly understood. Here, we describe tissue-specific regulation of a novel mouse gene family encoding components implicated in the synthesis of very long chain fatty acids. The Ssc1 gene appears to be ubiquitously expressed, whereas Ssc2 and Cig30 show a restricted expression pattern. Their translation products are all integral membrane proteins with five putative transmembrane domains. By complementing the homologous yeast mutants, we found that Ssc1 could rescue normal sphingolipid synthesis in the sur4/elo3 mutant lacking the ability to synthesize cerotic acid (C_26:0). Similarly, Cig30 reverted the phenotype of the fen1/elo2 mutant that has reduced levels of fatty acids in the C₂₀–C₂₄ range. Further, we show that Ssc1 mRNA levels were markedly decreased in the brains of myelin-deficient mouse mutants known to have very low fatty acid chain elongation activity. Conversely, the dramatic induction of Cig30 expression during brown fat recruitment coincided with elevated elongation activity. Our results strongly implicate this new mammalian gene family in tissue-specific synthesis of very long chain fatty acids and sphingolipids.

Key Words: membrane • lipids • elongation • myelin • gene expression

© 2000 The Rockefeller University Press

Sequence data have been deposited with GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ under accession nos. AF170907 and AF170908.

Abbreviations used in this paper: IPC, inositolphosphorylceramide; MIPC, mannose IPC; M(IP)₂C, mannose diinositolphosphorylceramide; Ssc, sequence similarity to Cig30; VLCFA, very long chain fatty acids.

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