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Definition
Glycerophosphocholine is a subclass of glycerophospholipids containing choline as headgroup (Fig. 1). The quarternary nitrogen of the choline group carries a permanent positive charge, while the phosphate group is deprotonated at physiological pH values, giving a net charge of zero. Due to the size of the head group, glycerophosphocholine molecules are nearly cylindrical and spontaneously organize into bilayers (Van Meer et al. 2008).
Chemical structure of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
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References
Cole LK, Vance JE, Vance DE. Phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis and lipoprotein metabolism. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2012;1821:754–61. doi:10.1016/j.bbalip.2011.09.009.
Gibellini F, Smith TK. The Kennedy pathway – de novo synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. IUBMB Life. 2010;62:414–28. doi:10.1002/iub.337.
Li Z, Vance DE. Phosphatidylcholine and choline homeostasis. J Lipid Res. 2008;49:1187–94. doi:10.1194/jlr.R700019-JLR200.
Van Meer G, Voelker DR, Feigenson GW. Membrane lipids: where they are and how they behave. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2008;9:112–24. doi:10.1038/nrm2330.
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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Triebl, A. (2016). Glycerophosphocholines. In: Wenk, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lipidomics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7864-1_33-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7864-1_33-1
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