From August 18th 2026, GtoPdb will require users to register to use the website. Please see our blog post for more information.

docosahexaenoic acid   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 1051

Abbreviated name: DHA
Synonyms: all-cis-DHA | all-cis-docosa-4,7,10,13,16,19-hexaenoic acid | doconexent | Omega 3 fatty acid | Omega-3 marine triglycerides | Retriacyl® (proposed trade name)
PDB Ligand
Compound class: Metabolite
Comment: Docosahexaenoic acid is an endogenous omega-3 fatty acid, activating all 3 retinoid X receptor isoforms. It has no activity at retinoic acid receptors (RARs), the thyroid hormone receptor or the vitamin D receptor (VDR).
Click here for help

Ligand Activity Visualisation Charts

These are box plot that provide a unique visualisation, summarising all the activity data for a ligand taken from ChEMBL and GtoPdb across multiple targets and species. Click on a plot to see the median, interquartile range, low and high data points. A value of zero indicates that no data are available. A separate chart is created for each target, and where possible the algorithm tries to merge ChEMBL and GtoPdb targets by matching them on name and UniProt accession, for each available species. However, please note that inconsistency in naming of targets may lead to data for the same target being reported across multiple charts.

✖

View interactive charts of activity data across species

docosahexaenoic acid is commercially available from our sponsors

2D Structure
Click here for help

2D Structure

An image of the ligand's 2D structure. For small molecules with SMILES these are drawn using the NCI/CADD Chemical Identifier Resolver. Click on the image to access the chemical structure search tool with the ligand pre-loaded in the structure editor. For other types of ligands, e.g. longer nucleotides and peptides, a manually drawn representation of the molecule may be provided.

✖
Click here for structure editor
Physico-chemical Properties
Click here for help

Physico-chemical Properties

Calculated molecular properties are available for small molecules and natural products (not peptides). Properties were generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/). All properties were selected to enable the prediction of the Lipinski Rule-of-Five profile or ‘druglikeness’ for each ligand. For more info on each category see the help pages.

✖
Hydrogen bond acceptors 2
Hydrogen bond donors 1
Rotatable bonds 14
Topological polar surface area 37.3
Molecular weight 328.24
XLogP 8.83
No. Lipinski's rules broken 2

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
Click here for help

SMILES / InChI / InChIKey

SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification) A specification for unambiguously describing the structure of chemical molecules using short ASCII strings. Canonical SMILES specify a unique representation of the 2D structure without chiral or isotopic specifications. Isomeric SMILES include chiral specification and isotopes.

Standard InChI (IUPAC International Chemical Identifier) and InChIKey InChI is a non-proprietary, standard, textual identifier for chemical substances designed to facilitate linking of information and database searching. An InChIKey is a simplified version of a full InChI, designed for easier web searching.

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)

✖
Canonical SMILES CCC=CCC=CCC=CCC=CCC=CCC=CCCC(=O)O
Isomeric SMILES CC/C=C\C/C=C\C/C=C\C/C=C\C/C=C\C/C=C\CCC(=O)O
InChI InChI=1S/C22H32O2/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22(23)24/h3-4,6-7,9-10,12-13,15-16,18-19H,2,5,8,11,14,17,20-21H2,1H3,(H,23,24)/b4-3-,7-6-,10-9-,13-12-,16-15-,19-18-
InChI Key MBMBGCFOFBJSGT-KUBAVDMBSA-N

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
References
1. Briscoe CP, Tadayyon M, Andrews JL, Benson WG, Chambers JK, Eilert MM, Ellis C, Elshourbagy NA, Goetz AS, Minnick DT et al.. (2003)
The orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR40 is activated by medium and long chain fatty acids.
J Biol Chem, 278 (13): 11303-11. [PMID:12496284]
2. Desvergne B, Wahli W. (1999)
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors: nuclear control of metabolism.
Endocr Rev, 20 (5): 649-88. [PMID:10529898]
3. Hoffman DR, Hughbanks-Wheaton DK, Pearson NS, Fish GE, Spencer R, Takacs A, Klein M, Locke KG, Birch DG. (2014)
Four-year placebo-controlled trial of docosahexaenoic acid in X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (DHAX trial): a randomized clinical trial.
JAMA Ophthalmol, 132 (7): 866-73. [PMID:24805262]
4. Hossain S, Hashimoto M, Katakura M, Miwa K, Shimada T, Shido O. (2009)
Mechanism of docosahexaenoic acid-induced inhibition of in vitro Abeta1-42 fibrillation and Abeta1-42-induced toxicity in SH-S5Y5 cells.
J Neurochem, 111 (2): 568-79. [PMID:19686246]
5. Itoh Y, Kawamata Y, Harada M, Kobayashi M, Fujii R, Fukusumi S, Ogi K, Hosoya M, Tanaka Y, Uejima H et al.. (2003)
Free fatty acids regulate insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells through GPR40.
Nature, 422 (6928): 173-6. [PMID:12629551]
6. Lampen A, Meyer S, Nau H. (2001)
Phytanic acid and docosahexaenoic acid increase the metabolism of all-trans-retinoic acid and CYP26 gene expression in intestinal cells.
Biochim Biophys Acta, 1521 (1-3): 97-106. [PMID:11690641]
7. Lesage F, Terrenoire C, Romey G, Lazdunski M. (2000)
Human TREK2, a 2P domain mechano-sensitive K+ channel with multiple regulations by polyunsaturated fatty acids, lysophospholipids, and Gs, Gi, and Gq protein-coupled receptors.
J Biol Chem, 275 (37): 28398-405. [PMID:10880510]
8. Motter AL, Ahern GP. (2012)
TRPA1 is a polyunsaturated fatty acid sensor in mammals.
PLoS ONE, 7 (6): e38439. [PMID:22723860]