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Glycerophospholipids or phosphoglycerides are glycerol-based phospholipids. They are the main component of biological membranes in eukaryotic cells. They are a type of lipid, of which its composition affects membrane structure and properties. [1] Two major classes are known: those for bacteria and eukaryotes and a separate family for archaea. [2]
The heads of glycolipids (glyco- stands for sugar) contain a sphingosine with one or several sugar units attached to it. The hydrophobic chains belong either to: two fatty acids (FA) – in the case of the phosphoglycerides, or; one FA and the hydrocarbon tail of sphingosine – in the case of sphingomyelin and the glycolipids.
Glycolipid. Glycolipids are lipids with a carbohydrate attached by a glycosidic (covalent) bond. [1] Their role is to maintain the stability of the cell membrane and to facilitate cellular recognition, which is crucial to the immune response and in the connections that allow cells to connect to one another to form tissues. [2]
In biological membranes, the phospholipids often occur with other molecules (e.g., proteins, glycolipids, sterols) in a bilayer such as a cell membrane. [7] Lipid bilayers occur when hydrophobic tails line up against one another, forming a membrane of hydrophilic heads on both sides facing the water.
By contrast, the outer (extracellular) leaflet is based on phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin and a variety of glycolipids. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] In some cases, this asymmetry is based on where the lipids are made in the cell and reflects their initial orientation. [ 18 ]
Glycolipids provide the most extreme example of asymmetry in the lipid bilayer. [10] Glycolipids perform a vast number of functions in the biological membrane that are mainly communicative, including cell recognition and cell-cell adhesion. Glycoproteins are integral proteins. [2] They play an important role in the immune response and ...
The surface of a curved lipid bilayer. Lipidology is the scientific study of lipids.Lipids are a group of biological macromolecules that have a multitude of functions in the body.
Galactolipids are a type of glycolipid whose sugar group is galactose. They differ from glycosphingolipids in that they do not have nitrogen in their composition. [1] They are the main part of plant membrane lipids where they substitute phospholipids to conserve phosphate for other essential processes.