The enzyme acyl-CoA wax alcohol acyltransferase 2 (AWAT2), which is also commonly referred to as multifunctional O-acyltransferase (MFAT), was first identified more than a decade ago by several groups as an enzyme responsible for wax monoester biosynthesis in the skin (1–3). These early investigations established that AWAT2 is highly expressed in both human and rodent skin, primarily in mature sebocytes of the sebaceous gland (4). Although AWAT2 was reported to be expressed predominantly in skin, low levels of expression were also reported for human testis, lung, brain, and adipose tissue suggesting a broad role of this enzyme in the body (3).
