Isoform 2 does not exhibit any catalytic activity toward 20:3n-6, but it may enhance FADS2 activity (By similarity). Isoform 1 is a component of a lipid metabolic pathway that catalyzes biosynthesis of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) from precursor essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) linoleic acid (LA) (18:2n-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (18:3n-3). Catalyzes the desaturation of dihomo-gamma-linoleic acid (DHGLA) (20:3n-6) and eicosatetraenoic acid (20:4n-3) to generate arachidonic acid (AA) (20:4n-6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)(20:5n-3), respectively.
