Bioactive lipids signaling

Hannun, Y.A., Obeid, L.M. (2008) Principles of bioactive lipid signalling lessons from sphingolipids. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 9, 139-150. 

Volume 434. Lipidomics and Bioactive Lipids Lipids and Cell Signaling (in preparation)... 

Lyso-PtdCho is not simply a lipid metabolite producing neurotrophic and neurotoxic effects. It participates in many signal transduction processes. Lyso-PtdCho activates protein kinases such as protein kinase C, protein kinase A, and c-jun terminal kinase. Lyso-PtdCho stimulates phospholipase D and inhibits CTP-phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (Gomez-Munoz et al., 1999 Boggs et al., 1995). Lyso-PtdCho acts as an agonist for certain G-protein coupled receptors and can be converted to another bioactive lipid, lyso-phosphatidic acid. 

Phospholipid molecules of membranes from neurons and glial cells store a wide variety of lipid messengers. Receptor-mediated events and changes in [Ca2+]i, such as occur during excitatory neurotransmission and activity-depen-dent synaptic plasticity, activate phospholipases that catalyze the release of bioactive moieties from phospholipids, which then participate in intra- and/or intercellular signaling pathways. 

G-protein coupled receptors constitute the largest family of signal transduction membrane proteins. They mediate responses of many bioactive molecules including biogenic amines, amino acids, peptides, lipids, nucleotides and proteins. As a result, GPCRs play a crucial role in many essential physiological processes like neurotransmission, cellular metabolism, secretion, cell growth, immune defense and differentiation. 

Lipids represent a diverse group of compounds, which are readily soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform or toluene and are essential for the structure and function of ah hving ceUs. Lipids include oils, fatty acids, waxes, steroids (e.g., cholesterol and steroid hormones), and other related compounds. Specihc classes of lipids are the primary structural components of membranes, provide sources of metabolic fuel, and function as bioactive signaling molecules. 

---