Protein / target
Polyunsaturated fatty acid 5-lipoxygenase
Protein at a glance
Biological role
Arachidonate 12(S)-lipoxygenase
Strongest disease association
Colitis, Ulcerative
Therapeutic position
Established drug target
Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.
Protein profile
Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.
Function overview
Catalyzes the oxygenation of arachidonate ((5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)-eicosatetraenoate) to 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoate (5-HPETE) followed by the dehydration to 5,6- epoxyeicosatetraenoate (Leukotriene A4/LTA4), the first two steps in the biosynthesis of leukotrienes, which are potent mediators of inflammat…
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Catalyzes the oxygenation of arachidonate ((5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)-eicosatetraenoate) to 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoate (5-HPETE) followed by the dehydration to 5,6- epoxyeicosatetraenoate (Leukotriene A4/LTA4), the first two steps in the biosynthesis of leukotrienes, which are potent mediators of inflammation (PubMed:19022417, PubMed:21233389, PubMed:22516296, PubMed:23246375, PubMed:24282679, PubMed:24893149, PubMed:31664810, PubMed:8615788, PubMed:8631361). Also catalyzes the oxygenation of arachidonate into 8-hydroperoxyicosatetraenoate (8-HPETE) and 12-hydroperoxyicosatetraenoate (12-HPETE) (PubMed:23246375). Displays lipoxin synthase activity being able to convert (15S)-HETE into a conjugate tetraene (PubMed:31664810). Although arachidonate is the preferred substrate, this enzyme can also metabolize oxidized fatty acids derived from arachidonate such as (15S)-HETE, eicosapentaenoate (EPA) such as (18R)- and (18S)-HEPE or docosahexaenoate (DHA) which lead to the formation of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) lipoxin and resolvins E and D respectively, therefore it participates in anti-inflammatory responses (PubMed:17114001, PubMed:21206090, PubMed:31664810, PubMed:32404334, PubMed:32841762, PubMed:8615788). Oxidation of DHA directly inhibits endothelial cell proliferation and sprouting angiogenesis via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) (By similarity). It does not catalyze the oxygenation of linoleic acid and does not convert (5S)-HETE to lipoxin isomers (PubMed:31664810). In addition to inflammatory processes, it participates in dendritic cell migration, wound healing through an antioxidant mechanism based on heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) regulation expression, monocyte adhesion to the endothelium via ITGAM expression on monocytes (By similarity). Moreover, it helps establish an adaptive humoral immunity by regulating primary resting B cells and follicular helper T cells and participates in the CD40-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after CD40 ligation in B cells through interaction with PIK3R1 that bridges ALOX5 with CD40 (PubMed:21200133). May also play a role in glucose homeostasis, regulation of insulin secretion and palmitic acid-induced insulin resistance via AMPK (By similarity). Can regulate bone mineralization and fat cell differentiation increases in induced pluripotent stem cells (By similarity)
Subcellular location
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (49)Hide
Domains & features
Gene Ontology
- Ccytosol
- Cextracellular region
- Cextracellular space
- Cficolin-1-rich granule lumen
- Cnuclear envelope
- Cnuclear envelope lumen
- Cnuclear matrix
- Cnuclear membrane
- Cnucleoplasm
- Cperinuclear region of cytoplasm
- Csecretory granule lumen
- Farachidonate 12(S)-lipoxygenase activity
Biological roles
What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.
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Cell migration
- ·Catalyzes the oxygenation of arachidonate ((5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)-eicosatetraenoate) to 5-hydro…
- ·dendritic cell migration
- ·leukocyte chemotaxis involved in inflammatory response
Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism
- ·Catalyzes the oxygenation of arachidonate ((5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)-eicosatetraenoate) to 5-hydro…
- ·long-chain fatty acid biosynthetic process
Immune signalling
- ·Catalyzes the oxygenation of arachidonate ((5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)-eicosatetraenoate) to 5-hydro…
- ·humoral immune response
- ·leukocyte chemotaxis involved in inflammatory response
- ·leukocyte migration involved in inflammatory response
Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.
Approved medicines with mapped indications
Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.
9 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 2 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.
Drugs targeting this protein
How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.
Arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor
Indicated for Arthritis, Juvenile, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Colitis, Ulcerative
Arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor
Indicated for Colitis, Ulcerative, Proctitis
ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.
Translational evidence
Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.
Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene ALOX5
Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene ALOX5 that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.
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The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.
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Drug development
11 compounds recorded · 9 approved · 2 in clinical development
View all recorded compounds (10)Hide
Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.
Tractability
Small molecules — Strong
Antibodies — Emerging
Protein degraders — Emerging
View underlying tractability evidence (8)Hide
Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.
Clinical trials
Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.
View all trials (26)Hide
ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.
What's happening now
Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.
- Regulatory approval
Approval: MESALAMINE (ANDA219028)
- New publicationMesalamine dose escalation reduces fecal calprotectin in patients with quiescent ulcerative colitis.
Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.