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There are two major classes of membrane lipids: glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Although many different membrane lipids are synthesized in our body, pathways share the same pattern. The first step is synthesizing the backbone (sphingosine or glycerol), the second step is the addition of fatty acids to the backbone to make phosphatidic acid.
The fatty acid structure is one of the most fundamental categories of biological lipids and is commonly used as a building-block of more structurally complex lipids. The carbon chain, typically between four and 24 carbons long, [ 23 ] may be saturated or unsaturated , and may be attached to functional groups containing oxygen , halogens ...
Lipidology is the scientific study of lipids. Lipids are a group of biological macromolecules that have a multitude of functions in the body. [1] [2] [3] Clinical studies on lipid metabolism in the body have led to developments in therapeutic lipidology for disorders such as cardiovascular disease. [4]
Glycerol has three hydroxyl functional groups, which can be esterified with one, two, or three fatty acids to form mono-, di-, and triglycerides. [2] These structures vary in their fatty acid alkyl groups as they can contain different carbon numbers, different degrees of unsaturation, and different configurations and positions of olefins.
Fatty acid synthesis starts with acetyl-CoA and builds up by the addition of two-carbon units. Fatty acid synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm of cells while oxidative degradation occurs in the mitochondria. Many of the enzymes for the fatty acid synthesis are organized into a multienzyme complex called fatty acid synthase. [5]
Most lipids consist of a polar or hydrophilic head (typically glycerol) and one to three non polar or hydrophobic fatty acid tails, and therefore they are amphiphilic. Fatty acids consist of unbranched chains of carbon atoms that are connected by single bonds alone ( saturated fatty acids) or by both single and double bonds ( unsaturated fatty ...
Membrane lipids are a group of compounds (structurally similar to fats and oils) which form the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane. The three major classes of membrane lipids are phospholipids, glycolipids, and cholesterol. Lipids are amphiphilic: they have one end that is soluble in water ('polar') and an ending that is soluble in fat ...
Neutral fats, also known as true fats, are simple lipids that are produced by the dehydration synthesis of one or more fatty acids with an alcohol like glycerol. Neutral fats are also known as triacylglycerols, [1] these lipids are dense as well as hydrophobic due to their long carbon chain and are there main function is to store energy ...