Glycolipids definition

Glycosylphosphatidyl inositol anchors constitute a class of glycolipids that link proteins and glycoproteins via their C-terminus to eukaryotic cell membranes. The first structure of a GPI anchor, that of Trypanosoma brucei, was published by Ferguson et al. [262]. Since then quite a few examples of GPI anchors were described, allowing the definition of the core structure depicted inO Scheme 37 [263]. 

This chapter focuses on the occurrence and the physicochemical properties of glycolipids in Nature. Owing to space limitations, the presented overview must be incomplete, and, thus, mainly publications of the past 15 years are included. However, all review articles cited herein inform the interested reader about earlier work. Although lipopolysaccharides (LPS), lipoara-binomannan (LAM), lipomannan, lipoglycans, and lipoteichoic acids are not understood as glycolipids per definition, their occurrence and properties are also described in this chapter. GPI-anchored lipids is a main topic ofO Chap. 7.4. 

According to this definition, biomolecules comprise a very wide-ranging group of compounds, which also includes substances such as lipids, phospholipids, glycolipids, sterols, vitamins, hormones, or neurotransmitters. Referring to... 

Cholesteryl 6-O-palmitoyl- p-u-galactopyranoside 49 was recently identified as a major surface component.The synthesis of the spacer-arm glycolipid-analogue 49 was accomplished as well as the BSA conjugate, allowing the definition of the epitope recognized by human antibodies. 

The fatty acids are compounds synthesised in nature via condensation of maionyi-coenzyme A units by a fatty acid synthetase compiex. By such definitions, cholesterol (but not steroid hormones) can be considered a lipid, as are phospholipids and glycolipids. Gangliosides, which are acidic glycolipids, are soluble in water and would not be treated as a lipid if some of the looser definitions were accepted. In the subsequent text of this book, the strict definition of lipid given above was followed in selecting the subject matter. 

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