Ether lipid

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Ether lipid

Ether lipids are lipid

Lipid

Lipids are broadly defined as any fat-soluble , naturally-occurring molecule, such as fats, oils, waxes, cholesterol, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins , monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others....
s in which one or more of the carbon

Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
atom

Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
s on glycerol

Glycerol

Glycerol is a chemical compound also commonly called glycerin or glycerine. It is a colorless, odorless, Viscosity liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations....
is bonded to an alkyl

Alkyl

An alkyl is a univalent Radical consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms, arranged in a chain. The Alkyls form homologous series with the general formula CnH2n+1....
chain via an ether

Ether

Ether is a class of organic compounds which contain an ether functional group ? an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups ? of general formula R?O?R....
linkage, as opposed to the usual ester

Ester

An ester is an often Aroma compound organic chemistry or partially organic compound formed by the reaction between an acid and an alcohol or aromatic alcohol with the elimination of water....
linkage.

r lipids are called plasmalogen

Plasmalogen

A plasmalogen is an ether lipid where the first position of glycerol binds a vinyl residue with the double bond next to the ether bond.The second carbon has a typical ester-linked fatty acid, and the third carbon usually has a phospholipid head group like choline or ethanolamine....
s (1-O-1'-alkenyl-2-acylglycerophospholipids) if these are glycerol

Glycerol

Phospholipid

File:Phospholipid.svgFile:phospholipid_structure.pngFile:Phosphatidyl-Choline.svgPhospholipids are a class of lipids and are a major component of all cell membranes....
s with an unsaturated O-(1-alkenyl) (vinyl

Vinyl

A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group , −CarbonHydrogenCovalent bondCH2. These are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group....
ether

Ether

Ether is a class of organic compounds which contain an ether functional group ? an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups ? of general formula R?O?R....
) group at the first position on the glycerol chain.

Platelet-activating factor

Platelet-activating factor

Platelet-activating factor, also known as a PAF, PAF-acether or AGEPC is a potent phospholipid activator and mediator of many leukocyte functions, including platelet aggregation, inflammation, and anaphylaxis....
is an ether lipid which has an acetyl

Acetyl

In organic chemistry, acetyl , is a functional group, the acyl of acetic acid, with chemical formula -CarbonOxygenCarbonHydrogen3. It is sometimes abbreviated as Ac ....
group instead of an acyl chain at the second position (SN-2).
formation of the ether bond in mammals requires two enzymes, dihydoxyacetonephosphate acyltransferase (DHAPAT) and alkyldihydroxyacetonephosphate synthase (ADAPS), that reside in the peroxisome

Peroxisome

Peroxisomes are organelles from the Microbody family and are present in almost any eukaryote cell. They participate in the metabolism of fatty acids and many other metabolites....
.

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Encyclopedia

Ether lipids are lipid

Lipid

Carbon

Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
s on glycerol

Glycerol

Alkyl

An alkyl is a univalent Radical consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms, arranged in a chain. The Alkyls form homologous series with the general formula CnH2n+1....
chain via an ether

Ether

Ester

Types

Ether lipids are called plasmalogen

Plasmalogen

Glycerol

Phospholipid

Vinyl

Ether

Platelet-activating factor

Acetyl

Biosynthesis

The formation of the ether bond in mammals requires two enzymes, dihydoxyacetonephosphate acyltransferase (DHAPAT) and alkyldihydroxyacetonephosphate synthase (ADAPS), that reside in the peroxisome

Peroxisome

Peroxisomes are organelles from the Microbody family and are present in almost any eukaryote cell. They participate in the metabolism of fatty acids and many other metabolites....
. Accordingly, peroxisomal defects often lead to impairment of ether-lipid production.

Functions

Structural

Plasmalogens as well as some 1-O-alkyl lipids are ubiquitous and sometimes major parts of the cell membrane

Cell membrane

The cell membrane is the interface between the cellular machinery inside the cell and the fluid outside.It is a semipermeable lipid bilayer found in all cell ....
s in mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s and anaerobic

Anaerobic

Anaerobic is a technical word which literally means without air , as opposed to aerobic .In wastewater treatment the absence of oxygen is indicated as anoxic; and anaerobic is used to indicate the absence of a common electron acceptor such as nitrate, sulfate or oxygen....
bacteria

Bacteria

Archaea

The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
, ether lipids are the major polar lipids in the cell envelope and their abundance is one of the major characteristics that separate this group of prokaryote

Prokaryote

The prokaryotes are a group of organisms that lack a cell nucleus , or any other cell membrane-bound organelles. They differ from the eukaryotes, which have a cell nucleus....
s from the bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
. In these cells, diphytanylglycerolipids or bipolar macrocyclic tetraethers can form covalently linked 'bilayers'.

Second messenger

Differences between the catabolism

Catabolism

Catabolism is the set of metabolic pathways which break down molecules into smaller units and release energy. In catabolism, large molecules such as polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins are broken down into smaller units such as monosaccharides, fatty acids, nucleotides and amino acids, respectively....
of ether glycerophospholipids by specific phospholipase

Phospholipase

A phospholipase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes phospholipids into fatty acids and other lipophilic substances. There are four major classes, termed A, B, C and D distinguished by what type of reaction they catalyze:...
s enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
s might be involved in the generation of lipid second messenger system

Second messenger system

In cell physiology, a secondary messenger system is a method of cellular signaling, whereby a diffusable signaling molecule is rapidly produced/secreted which can then go on to activate effector proteins within the cell to exert a cellular response....
s such as prostaglandin

Prostaglandin

A prostaglandin is any member of a group of lipid compounds that are derived enzymatically from fatty acids and have important functions in the animal body....
s and arachidonic acid

Arachidonic acid

Arachidonic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid 20:4.It is the counterpart to the saturated arachidic acid found in peanut oil, ...
that are important in signal transduction. Ether lipids can also act directly in cell signaling, as the platelet-activating factor

Platelet-activating factor

Immune system

An immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells....
.

Antioxidant

Another possible function of the plasmalogen ether lipids is as antioxidant

Antioxidant

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the Redox of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent....
s, as protective effects against oxidative stress

Oxidative stress

Oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or easily repair the resulting damage....
have been demonstrated in cell culture

Cell culture

Cell culture is the process by which prokaryote or eukaryote cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from multicellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells....
and these lipids might therefore play a role in serum lipoprotein

Lipoprotein

A lipoprotein is a biochemistry assembly that contains both proteins and lipids. The lipids or their derivatives may be covalently or non-covalently bound to the proteins....
metabolism. This antioxidant activity comes from the enol ether double bond being targeted by a variety of reactive oxygen species

Reactive oxygen species

Reactive oxygen species are ions or very small molecules that include oxygen ions, radical , and peroxides, both inorganic and organic peroxide....
.

Synthetic ether lipid analogs

Synthetic ether lipid analogs have cytostatic and cytotoxic

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer....
properties, probably by disrupting membrane structure and acting as inhibitors

Enzyme inhibitor

Enzyme inhibitors are molecules that bind to enzymes and decrease their enzyme activity. Since blocking an enzyme's activity can kill a pathogen or correct a metabolism imbalance, many drugs are enzyme inhibitors....
of enzymes within signal transmission pathways, such as protein kinase C

Protein kinase C

Protein kinase C is a family of protein kinases consisting of ~10 isozymes. They are divided into three subfamilies, based on their second messenger requirements: conventional , novel, and atypical....
and phospholipase C

Phospholipase C

Phosphoinositide phospholipase C is a family of eukaryotic intracellular enzymes that play an important role in signal transduction processes....
.

A toxic ether lipid analogue miltefosine

Miltefosine

Miltefosine is an antiprotozoal medication. Originally developed as an antineoplastic, it is finding use as an antiprotozoal drug. It can be administered orally and intravenously....
has recently been introduced as an oral treatment for the tropical disease leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly ....
, which is caused by leishmania

Leishmania

Leishmania is a genus of trypanosome protozoa, and is the parasite responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. It is spread through sandfly of the genus Phlebotomus in the Old World, and of the genus Lutzomyia in the New World....
, a protozoal parasite with a particularly high ether lipid content in its membranes.

Ether lipid

Types

Biosynthesis

Functions

Structural

Second messenger

Antioxidant

Synthetic ether lipid analogs

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