Free fatty acid receptor

Free fatty acid receptors (FFARs) are G-protein coupled receptors (GPRs). GPRs (also termed seven-(pass)-transmembrane domain receptors) are a large family of receptors. They reside on their parent cells' surface membranes, bind any one of a specific set of ligands that they recognize, and thereby are activated to elicit certain types of responses in their parent cells. Humans express more than 800 different types of GPCRs. FFARs are GPCR that bind and thereby become activated by particular fatty acids. In general, these binding/activating fatty acids are straight-chain fatty acids consisting of a carboxylic acid residue, i.e., -COOH, attached to aliphatic chains, i.e. carbon atom chains of varying lengths with each carbon being bound to 1, 2 or 3 hydrogens (CH1, CH2, or CH3). For example, propionic acid is a short-chain fatty acid consisting of 3 carbons (C's), CH3-CH2-COOH, and docosahexaenoic acid is a very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid consisting of 22 C's and six double bonds (double bonds notated as "="): CH3-CH2-CH1=CH1-CH2-CH1=CH1-CH2-CH1=CH1-CH2-CH1=CH1-CH2-CH1=CH1-CH2-CH1=CH1-CH2-CH2-COOH.

Currently, four FFARs are recognized: FFAR1, also termed GPR40; FFAR2, also termed GPR43; FFAR3, also termed GPR41; and FFAR4, also termed GPR120. The human FFAR1, FFAR2, and FFAR3 genes are located close to each other on the long (i.e., "q") arm of chromosome 19 at position 23.33 (notated as 19q23.33). This location also includes the GPR42 gene (previously termed the FFAR1L, FFAR3L, GPR41L, and GPR42P gene). This gene appears to be a segmental duplication of the FFAR3 gene. The human GPR42 gene codes for several proteins with a FFAR3-like structure but their expression in various cell types and tissues as well as their activities and functions have not yet been clearly defined. Consequently, none of these proteins are classified as an FFAR. The human FFAR1 gene is located on the long (i.e. "q") arm of chromosome 10 (notated as 10q23.33).

FFAR2 and FFAR3 bind and are activated by short-chain fatty acids, i.e., fatty acid chains consisting of 6 or less carbon atoms such as acetic, butyric, proprionic, pentanoic, and hexanoic acids. β-hydroxybutyric acid has been reported to stimulate or inhibit FFAR3. FFAR1 and FFAR4 bind to and are activated by medium-chain fatty acids (i.e., fatty acids consisting of 6-12 carbon atoms) such as lauric and capric acids and long-chain or very long-chain fatty acids (i.e., fatty acids consisting respectively of 13 to 21 or more than 21 carbon atoms) such as myristic, steric, oleic, palmitic, palmitoleic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic, dihomo-gamma-linolenic, eicosatrienoic, arachidonic (also termed eicosatetraenoic acid), eicosapentaenoic, docosatetraenoic, docosahexaenoic, and 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids. Among the fatty acids that activate FFAR1 and FFAR4, docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids are regarded as the main fatty acids that do so.

Many of the FFAR-activating fatty acids also activate other types of GPRs. The actual GPR activated by a fatty acid must be identified in order to understand its and the activated GPR's function. The following section gives the non-FFAR GPRs that are activated by FFAR-activating fatty acids. One of the most often used and best way of showing that a fatty acid's action is due to a specific GPR is to show that the fatty acid's action is either absent or significantly reduced in cells, tissues, or animals that have no or significantly reduced activity due, respectively, to the knockout (i.e., total removal or inactivation) or knockdown (i.e., significant depression ) of the gene's GPR protein that mediates the fatty acid's action.