Mammalian sphingolipids, fatty acids

Tvrdik, P., Westerberg, R., Silve, S., Asadi, A., Jakobsson, A., Cannon, B., Loison, G. and Jacobsson, A. (2000). Role of a new mammalian gene family in the biosynthesis of very long chain fatty acids and sphingolipids../. Cell Biol., 149, 707-718. 

Fig. 4. Structures and names of representative fatty acids, including a- and co-hydroxy fatty acids, in mammalian sphingolipids.

The biosynthesis of sphingolipids has been studied in mammalian systems (47) and in yeast (73). They are constructed by condensation of the co-enzyme A derivative of a long chain fatty acid, usually palmitate (C-16) with serine with concomitant loss of the carboxyl group of serine. The ketone group is then reduced to give sphinganine, a close structural... 

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