Team:Pitt/Skin Probiotic/Dehydrogenase/Intro

Desaturase Intro

P. acnes naturally resides in the skin making it an ideal candidate for an engineered skin probiotic. One our team’s goals is to engineer P. acnes to secrete a lipid-restoring enzyme, which would reduce inflammation by maintaining a healthy balance of oils on the skin. Specifically, we are aiming to express Δ12 Fatty Acid Desaturase. The Biobrick for this gene was first cloned by the Manchester 2013 iGEM team (Part: BBa_K1027002).

On the skin it is thought that a reduction of linoleic acid and elevation in oleic acid, contributes to the occurrence of acne-related inflammation. Thus by inserting a desaturase enzyme to increase the concentration of linoleic acid we will attempt restore the natural lipid balance of characteristic of healthy skin.

Figure 1. Delta Fatty Acid Desaturase converts linoleic acid to oleic acid.

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