Phospholipase A2, Calcium Independent (iPLA2)

85 kDa calcium-independent phospholipase A2 is is an A2 phospholipase, a class of enzyme that catalyzes the release of fatty acids from phospholipids. The encoded protein may play a role in phospholipid remodelling, arachidonic acid release, leukotriene and prostaglandin synthesis, fas-mediated apoptosis, and transmembrane ion flux in glucose-stimulated B-cells. Several transcript variants encoding multiple isoforms have been described, but the full-length nature of only two of them have been determined to date.Tang et al. (1997) purified an 85-kD cytosolic calcium-independent PLA2, termed iPLA2, from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. They isolated a partial human cDNA from a Burkitt lymphoma cDNA library by screening with a CHO cDNA. Northern blot analysis revealed that iPLA2 is expressed in a variety of rodent tissues.