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Chemical Diversity of Lipids

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Encyclopedia of Biophysics

Lipids represent some of the most complex biological molecules, and their diversity is crucial for their cellular functions. The wide range of chemical and physical properties of different lipids determines a variety of roles for these compounds in biological processes. According to their structures, lipids can be divided into two main groups: the nonpolar lipids (acylglycerols, sterols, nonesterified (free) fatty acids, hydrocarbons, alcohols, wax, and steryl esters) and polar lipids (phosphoglycerides, glycosyl glycerides, and sphingolipids). Triacylglycerols act as energy stores and metabolic fuels. Polar lipids and sterols are important structural components of cell membranes where they may have many diverse functions. Arranged as bilayers, they establish permeability barriers for cells and organelles and provide a microenvironment for membrane-associated proteins as well as directly participating in metabolism and a multitude of membrane fusion events (Gurr et al. 2016). Waxes as...

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  1. School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Irina A. Guschina & John L. Harwood

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  1. Irina A. Guschina
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Correspondence to Irina A. Guschina .

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  1. University Leicester MRC Centre, Leicester, UK

    Gordon Roberts

  2. Dept Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anthony Watts

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  1. Membrane Biophysics Platform, Department of Chemistry and Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK

    John Seddon

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Guschina, I.A., Harwood, J.L. (2020). Chemical Diversity of Lipids. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_526-1

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