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Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing energy, signaling, and acting as structural components of cell membranes.
A lipoprotein is a biochemical assembly whose primary function is to transport hydrophobic lipid (also known as fat) molecules in water, as in blood plasma or other extracellular fluids. They consist of a triglyceride and cholesterol center, surrounded by a phospholipid outer shell, with the hydrophilic portions oriented outward toward the ...
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 ...
Vertebrates (including humans) use both sources of fat to produce energy for organs such as the heart to function. [6] Since lipids are hydrophobic molecules, they need to be solubilized before their metabolism can begin. Lipid metabolism often begins with hydrolysis, [7] which occurs with the help of various enzymes in the digestive system. [2]
The lipids carried include all fat molecules with cholesterol, phospholipids, and triglycerides dominant; amounts of each vary considerably. [ 5 ] A good clinical interpretation of blood lipid levels is that high LDL, in combination with a high amount of triglycerides, which indicates a high likelihood of the LDL being oxidised, is associated ...
Phospholipid bilayers are the main structural component of the cell membranes. In biological membranes, the phospholipids often occur with other molecules (e.g., proteins , glycolipids , sterols ) in a bilayer such as a cell membrane . [ 7 ]
[2] [3] 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 steroid hormones. While technically alcohols, sterols are classified by biochemists as lipids (fats in the broader sense of the term).
The three main structures phospholipids form in solution; the liposome (a closed bilayer), the micelle and the bilayer. [1] The lipid bilayer (or phospholipid bilayer) is a thin polar membrane made of two layers of lipid molecules. These membranes form a continuous barrier around all cells.