Arachidonic acid is 1 of only 2 unsaturated fatty acids retained in the ovaries of crustaceans and an inhibitor of HR97g, a nuclear receptor expressed in adult ovaries. Arachidonic acid induces retinal arteriolar vasodilation by inhibiting subcellular Ca(2+)-signaling activity in retinal arteriolar myocytes, most likely through a mechanism involving the inhibition of L-type Ca(2+)-channel activity. Arachidonic acid causes an increase in free cytoplasmic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in differentiated skeletal multinucleated myotubes C2C12 and does not induce calcium response in C2C12 myoblasts. Arachidonic acid is a long-chain fatty acid that is a C20, polyunsaturated fatty acid having four (Z)-double bonds at positions 5, 8, 11 and 14. It has a role as a mouse metabolite, a human metabolite, an EC 3.1.1.1 (carboxylesterase) inhibitor and a Daphnia galeata metabolite. It is a long-chain fatty acid, an omega-6 fatty acid and an icosa-5,8,11,14-tetraenoic acid. It is a conjugate acid of an arachidonate. It derives from a hydride of a (5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)-icosa-5,8,11,14-tetraene.