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Glycerophospholipids

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Lipidomics

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Synonyms

GP (abbr.); Phospholipids; PL (abbr.)

Definition

Glycerophospholipids are a class of lipids comprising several subclasses. Their basic building blocks (Fig. 1) are:

  • Glycerol

  • A phosphate group, esterified to a terminal hydroxyl group of glycerol

  • One or two fatty acids, linked via either acyl-, alkyl-, or alkenyl-bonds to the remaining hydroxyl groups. Although the length and degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids vary, phospholipids typically contain a saturated fatty acid at the sn-1 position and an unsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acid at the sn-2 position.

  • A head group, determining the subclass

Fig. 1
figure 1

general General structure of a diacyl glycerophospholipid. Note general building blocks glycerol (blue), phosphate (orange), fatty acids R1 and R2 (green), and head group R (red)

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zentrum für Medizinische Forschung (ZMF), Medizinische Universität Graz, Stiftingtalstraße 24/1, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Alexander Triebl

Authors
  1. Alexander Triebl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Triebl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Centre for Life Sciences, Singapore, Singapore

    Markus R. Wenk

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Triebl, A. (2016). Glycerophospholipids. In: Wenk, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lipidomics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7864-1_58-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7864-1_58-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7864-1

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