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The functions of lipids include storing energy, signaling, and acting as structural components of cell membranes. [3] [4] Lipids have applications in the cosmetic and food industries, and in nanotechnology. [5] Lipids may be broadly defined as hydrophobic or amphiphilic small molecules; the amphiphilic nature of some lipids allows them to form ...
They occur naturally in most eukaryotes, including plants, animals, and fungi, and can also be produced by some bacteria (however likely with different functions). [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The most familiar type of animal sterol is cholesterol , which is vital to the structure of the cell membrane , and functions as a precursor to fat-soluble vitamins and ...
Oil bodies are the organelle that has evolved to hold triglycerides in plant cells. They are therefore the principal store of chemical energy in oleaginous seeds. The structure and composition of plant seed oil bodies has been the subject of research from at least as far back as the 1980s, with several papers published in the 80s and 90s.
Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. [1]
A brown fat cell. Yellow adipose tissue in paraffin. White fat cells contain a single large lipid droplet surrounded by a layer of cytoplasm, and are known as unilocular. The nucleus is flattened and pushed to the periphery. A typical fat cell is 0.1 mm in diameter [2] with some being twice that
Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in animal fats and oils. [3] [4]Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells [citation needed] and is an essential structural and signaling component of animal cell membranes.
A plant cuticle is a protecting film covering the outermost skin layer of leaves, young shoots and other aerial plant organs (aerial here meaning all plant parts not embedded in soil or other substrate) that have no periderm. The film consists of lipid and hydrocarbon polymers infused with wax, and is synthesized exclusively by the epidermal cells.
Cross-sectional view of the structures that can be formed by phospholipids in an aqueous solution. A biological membrane, biomembrane or cell membrane is a selectively permeable membrane that separates the interior of a cell from the external environment or creates intracellular compartments by serving as a boundary between one part of the cell and another.