This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Plasmalogen is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
A plasmalogen is an ether lipid where the first position of glycerol binds a vinyl residue (from a vinyl alcohol) 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.
Contents |
Functions
In many tissues plasmalogens are minor constituents, but in heart tissue nearly 50% of phosphatidylcholine contains the alkenyl ether at carbon 1. Nervous tissues, testes and kidneys also contain significant amounts of plasmalogens.
Alkenyl ether-containing phospholipids can protect cells against the damaging effects of singlet oxygen, which at high concentrations can kill cells.
Plasmalogens also occur in invertebrates and single cell protozoans. Among bacteria they have been found in many anaerobic species including Clostridia, Megasphaera, and Veillonella.
History
Plasmalogens were first described when studying stained tissue sections.
These tissue sections were pre-treated with mercuric chloride that breaks the vinyl-ether bond and forms aldehydes that later react with a fuschine-sulfurous acid stain, giving rise to coloured compounds inside the cytoplasm of the cells.
Pathology
Zellweger's syndrome is characterized by defects in peroxisome biogenesis resulting in the reduced production of plasmalogen synthesis.
See also
External links
|
||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 29 September 2008, at 16:15.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Plasmalogen".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.