Assignment of the acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) gene to porcine chromosome X.

Source/description: Acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) is an essential enzyme in fatty acid metabolism. It converts free long-chain fatty acids into fatty acylCoA esters, which are key intermediates in the synthesis of complex lipids. ACSL4 catalyses the formation of these fatty acyl-CoAs by a two-step process that starts with the addition of an AMP at the carboxyl group of the fatty acid. Subsequently, this AMP is released by the incorporation of the CoA group. In humans, an alternative splicing of this gene generates two transcript variants. One of them encodes for a protein that contains an additional 41 amino acid-long N-terminal peptide that introduces a hydrophobic domain in the molecule. This may change the intracellular localization of ACSL4 or its fatty acid specificity.