Phosphoglycerides,

Phosphatidic acids not only are intennediates in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerols but also are biosynthetic precursors of other members of a group of compounds called phosphoglycerides or glycerol phosphatides. Phosphorus-containing derivatives of lipids are known as phospholipids, and phosphoglycerides are one type of phospholipid. 

Staphylococcal nuclease Phosphoglycerides, hydrolysis of ester bond in, 204... 

Of the two major phosphohpid classes present in membranes, phosphoglycerides are the more common and consist of a glycerol backbone to which are attached two fatty acids in ester linkage and a phosphorylated alcohol (Figure 41-2). The fatty acid constiments are usually even-numbered carbon molecules, most commonly containing 16 or 18 carbons. They are unbranched and can be saturated or unsamrated. The simplest phosphoglyceride is phosphatidic acid, which is... 

Figure 41-2. A phosphoglyceride showing the fatty acids (R, and Rj), glycerol, and phosphorylated alcohol components. In phosphatidicacid, Rjis hydrogen.

Organophilic polyphenolic materials for oil-based drilling fluids have been described [407], The additives are prepared from a polyphenolic material and one or more phosphatides. The phosphatides are phosphoglycerides obtained from vegetable oils, preferably commercial lecithin. Humic acids, ligno-sulfonic acid, lignins, phenolic condensates, tannins the oxidized, sulfonated, or sulfomethylated derivatives of these polyphenolic materials may serve as polyphenolic materials. 

Anandamide amidase recognizes and hydrolyzes 2-AG (Goparaju, 1999 Di Marzo, 1999 Lang, 1999) however, there is evidence for the existence of another specific hydrolase [monoacylglycerol (MAG) lipase] that hydrolyzes 2-AG (D. Piomelli and A. Makriyannis, 2000, personal communication). In addition to this pathway, 2-AG diffuses rapidly into the cell membrane where it could be either hydrolyzed to arachidonic acid and glycerol or esterified back to phosphoglycerides (Di Marzo, 1999b). 

The lipid component consists primarily of phospholipids and cholesterol. The most important group of phospholipids are phosphoglycerides, based on phosphatidic acid (where X = H), with the formula... 

Two routes to phospholipid biosynthesis are known in either, the participation of CTP is necessary. The first route involves phosphatidic acid in phosphoglyceride biosynthesis. Phosphatidic acid reacts with CTP to yield CDP-diglyceride which, as a coenzyme, can participate in the transfer of diglyceride onto serine (or inositol) to produce phosphatidylserine (or phosphatidylinositol). Serine phosphatides are liable to decarboxylation (pyridoxal phosphate acting... 

Each phospholipid class in a given tissue has a characteristic fatty acid composition. Though the same fatty acid may be present in a number of lipids, the quantitative fatty acid composition is different for each class of lipids and remains fairly constant during the growth and development of the brain. A typical distribution profile of the major fatty acids in rat brain phospholipids is given in Table 3.1. Not only do the phosphoglycerides differ in the structure of the polar head groups, or phospholipid... 

TABLE 3-1 Distribution profile of the major individual molecular species in the diacylglycerol moieties of rat brain phosphoglycerides ... 

Lipids are transported between membranes. As indicated above, lipids are often biosynthesized in one intracellular membrane and must be transported to other intracellular compartments for membrane biogenesis. Because lipids are insoluble in water, special mechanisms must exist for the inter- and intracellular transport of membrane lipids. Vesicular trafficking, cytoplasmic transfer-exchange proteins and direct transfer across membrane contacts can transport lipids from one membrane to another. The best understood of such mechanisms is vesicular transport, wherein the lipid molecules are sorted into membrane vesicles that bud out from the donor membrane and travel to and then fuse with the recipient membrane. The well characterized transport of plasma cholesterol into cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis is a useful model of this type of lipid transport. [9, 20]. A brain specific transporter for cholesterol has been identified (see Chapter 5). It is believed that transport of cholesterol from the endoplasmic reticulum to other membranes and of glycolipids from the Golgi bodies to the plasma membrane is mediated by similar mechanisms. The transport of phosphoglycerides is less clearly understood. Recent evidence suggests that net phospholipid movement between subcellular membranes may occur via specialized zones of apposition, as characterized for transfer of PtdSer between mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum [21]. 

Lee, C. and Hajra, A.K. Molecular species of diacylglycerols and phosphoglycerides and the postmortem changes in the molecular species of diacylglycerols in rat brain. /. Neurochem. 56 370-379,1991. 

Platelet activating factor (PAF) is the term used to describe a family of structurally-related lipids that are all acetylated phosphoglycerides (Fig. 

Figure 12.11 Phosphoglyceride structure. The members of this group are derivatives of the parent compound, l,2-diacyl-src-glycerol-3-phosphate (phosphatidic acid) in which X is a hydrogen atom. This is replaced by either an amino alcohol or a polyhydroxy residue. In phosphoglycerides derived from animal tissues R1 is usually a saturated acyl chain of between 16 and 20 carbon atoms and R2 is usually unsaturated. Polyunsaturated acyl chains containing 16 or 18 carbon atoms predominate in leaf phosphoglycerides and those of bacterial origin are often more complex.

Table 12.5). Phosphoglycerides are derivatives of glycerophosphoric acid (l,2-diacyl-sn-3-phosphate) which is also called phosphatidic acid. 

The different phosphoglycerides are often named by placing the constituent attached to the phosphate group after phosphatidyl , e.g. phosphatidyl choline (3-in-phosphatidylcholine or l,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoryl-choline). There are many phosphoglycerides because of the possible variation in the fatty acid chains, and when the full chemical structure is known, it should be used (e.g. l-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine). Nomenclature that entails the use of the DL system should be avoided. 

Mono-, di- and triacylglycerols may all be measured by determination of the amount of glycerol released by hydrolysis. The lipid is first extracted into chloroform-methanol (2 1) and saponification is performed under conditions that will not affect any phosphate ester bonds, otherwise glycerol originating from phosphoglycerides would also be measured. Heating at 70°C for 30 min with alcoholic potassium hydroxide (0.5 mol l-1) has been shown to be satisfactory. However, the phospholipids may be removed prior to saponification either by extraction or by adsorption on activated silicic acid. 

Mixtures of phosphoglycerides can be separated using a chloroform-methanol-water mixture, the proportions of which may be varied to suit the sample constituents (e.g. 65 25 4). Acetone is sometimes included in the solvent and silver nitrate-impregnated plates can be used. Acetic acid (1-4%) is also a useful additive to effect the separation of neutral phosphoglycerides... 

Two-dimensional techniques are usually employed if both phospho-glycerides and glycolipids are present, but it is possible to resolve members of both classes using a diisobutylketone-acetic acid-water mixture (40 25 5). A solvent composed of acetone, acetic acid and water (100 2 1) will separate the mono- and di-galactosyldiglycerides, which are particularly abundant in plant extracts, from phosphoglycerides, which remain at the origin. 

Many solvent combinations have been described for two-dimensional separation and, in general, if an alkaline or neutral solvent is chosen for the first dimension then the second solvent should be acidic. Also it may be useful for one solvent to contain acetone, which will enhance the movement of glycolipids relative to the phosphoglycerides. Acetic acid should not be used in the first solvent, because it is difficult to remove completely and affects the quality of the separation in the second dimension. Difficulties are also encountered in the removal of butanol, which interferes with the charring process often used for the location of the spots. 

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