rs953413 Regulates Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Metabolism by Modulating ELOVL2 Expression

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) influence human health in several areas, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cancer. ELOVL2 encodes one of the key enzymes in the in vivo synthesis of LC-PUFAs from their precursors. Variants near ELOVL2 have repeatedly been associated with levels of LC-PUFA-derived metabolites in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), but the mechanisms behind these observations remain poorly defined. in this study, we found that rs953413, located in the first intron of ELOVL2, lies within a functional FOXA and HNF4 alpha cooperative binding site. The G allele of rs953413 increases binding of FOXA1/FOXA2 and HNF4 alpha to an evolutionarily conserved enhancer element, conferring allele-specific upregutation of the rs953413-associated gene ELOVL2. The expression of ELOVL2 was significantly downregulated by both FOXA 1 and HNF4 alpha knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated direct mutation to the enhancer element. Our results suggest that rs953413 regulates LC-PUFAs metabolism by altering ELOVL2 expression through FOXA1/FOXA2 and HNF4 alpha cooperation.