Enzymatic studies with 3-oxa n-3 DPA

Cyclooxygenase-2 and several lipoxygenases convert polyunsaturated fatty acids into a large variety of products. During inflammatory processes, these enzymes form several distinct families of specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators possessing potent anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving effects. These mediators have attracted a great interest as leads in drug discovery and have recently been the subject of biosynthetic pathway studies using docosahexaenoic and n-3 docosapentaenoic acid as substrates. Herein we present enzymatic studies with cyclooxygenase-2 and 5-, 12- and 15-lipoxygenase enzymes using 3-oxa n-3 DPA as a synthetic mimic of n-3 docosapentaenoic acid. Structural elucidation based on data from RP-HPLC UV and LC/MS-MS experiments enabled the identification of novel enzymatically formed products. These findings constitute the basis for further biosynthetic studies towards understanding the mechanisms regulating substrate utilization in the biosynthesis of specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators.